Legend of the Spider-Man
by Avatar Conner
Summary: Spider-Man. One of earth's greatest heroes, he's saved countless people over the years and he's still doing if today. So if the big apple can have Spidy, why not add one to Republic City? A OC story, that takes place before Korra hitchhiked to the big city. Watch out, here comes the new Spider-Man. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

With Great Power...

**AN: Hello all Legend of Korra and Web head fans! This isn't my first LoK fanfic but it's my first time adding Spiderman in any way to any of my stories.**

**First off, I am a huge fan of the web head, I've played every video game (no matter how bad), know his history back and forth, and seen almost all the movies. Now I could say a bunch of other things that show I'm a fan of the web head but I've been really wanting to put this to paper (metaphorically speaking) for the last few days now.**

**Let's get this started!**

The sun above Republic City shined brightly on the August morning. In the residential apartments of the city was the home of the most unlikeliest of heroes. "Crap! Mom have you seen my History book?"

Inside the top floor apartment window was the room of the most unlikely heroes, Jason O-rou, occupant of the Dragon Flats Borough, high school student who may have a good future. That is if he can get a his school supplied together before class starts...and get his shirt on over his head.

Jason O-rou had light brown hair, and blue eyes that usually hid behind a pair of doctor prescribed glasses, and fairly paled skin from his hours of studying. Jason wasn't the strongest boy growing up so he found himself reading more than playing on the playground.

"I got it here hon." His mother, Ava O-rou, a single mother and bread winner if the small household. She had black hairy used up into a ponytail that went down and around her neck.

The apartment consisted of two separate bedrooms that housed the occupants. Jason's bedroom was somewhere between well kept and messy, the desk facing the window out to the fire escape held many books, mostly on math and science.

But back to the matter at hand, Jason pulled the tan longs sleeve down over his head and put on his plain black pants and grabbed his backpack before hurrying into the living/kitchen/dining room.

Sitting down at the table his mother smiled at her son's readiness for school. Most of Republic City's youth were either already working, on the streets, in gangs, or in school like her son. "Here you go hon." Ava said as she set the burnt toast down on the table while she went to grab her son's schoolbook.

Jason meanwhile held the bread my his fingers, "How's that idea of a new toaster coming along?" he asked with a bit of hope in his voice. Burned bread isn't toxic or anything to him, but still, toast is better.

Ava shot her son a skeptical look, "It's on the list. Why? Don't like your Mom's expert cooking?" she asked as she put the book into her son's school bag.

Jason held the good up, "It's toast mom." he said simply, Ava gave her son a pointed look, _Uh-oh. That's her look._ the teen thought. He took a bite out of the bread, "And you make it amazingly mom." he said with his mouth full.

Ava rolled her eyes and put his bag by his side, giving him a small smack in the arm in the process, "That's what I thought. Now hurry up, you only have ten minutes left until school starts." she said, making her son nearly choke on his food.

"W-whagt?" He asked, swallowing hard he stood up abruptly, "I can't be late, not today!" Jason said with confidence as he strode to the door and slipped his shoes on. He hopped out the door and closed it behind him.

Ava leaned on the dinner table and smiled, "Five, four, three, two and-" the door to the apartment opened to show Jason come back in.

"Forgot my bag." he said simply. His mother reached down and picked up from the spot on the floor and handed it to him. A amusing smile on her face.

"Thanks mom." Jason said as he threw the old bag over his shoulder and gave his mom a peck on the cheek, "Love you, see you when you get home!" he called out as he opened and shut the door to the apartment again for the second time today.

Jogging down the hall, Jason pivoted on his heel when he reached the saris and quickly descended from the fourth floor of the apartment building. Jumping the last few steps, Jason made a b-line for the doorway to entrance. "Not today! I don't care if the street collapses I'm getting to school today!" Jason said as he bust trough the doors and skidded across the sidewalk.

He ran forward right into his big, bulky neighbor, Zolt Shin, and fell onto the ground. "Owww." Jason muttered as he picked himself up and looked up at his unhappy neighbor, "Sorry Mr. Zolt, my bad." the teen apologized.

The man gave the teen a dirty look, "Watch where your going next time punk." he said, shoving Jason aside and nearly knocking him over again. Jason dusted himself off and carried on his way to school as his neighbor entered the apartment complex .

"I was watching were I was going but I ran into a wall." he muttered to his own amusement. Though he thought it was pretty dumb himself deep down.

Meanwhile, a unlikely pair was watching the young teen, unnoticed by anyone. "And we're here why again?" a male voice asked.

The female rolled her eyes, "I told you already. Did that little walk in another guy's head mess your memory up?" the woman asked.

The man did a double take, "What? That kid? But...he's too young for this." the man said, meeting the woman's gaze.

She gave him a skeptical look, "So where you. Look I don't want this to happen just as much as you do. But like it or not, it's happening. Only fair you get to be a part of it." she said, ending the debate before it began.

…

"Not gonna be late. Not gonna be late. Not gonna be late." Jason like a mantra as his feet hit the pavement in a rhythm. The school that he attended was the Hiroshi Sato High School. The great inventor himself grew up in the same neighborhood that Jason lived in so a nearby school was named after him.

The school wasn't anything extraordinary by any means except for the fact that Mr. Sato used his own funds to build it. The surprising part was that it was a public school of all things.

Jason ran across the street and fallowed the sidewalk into the building and opened the door into the school just as the first bell rang. "Yes! Thank you sprits."Jason said in relief as he began to make his way to his locker.

The halls were filled with teens and preteens, benders and non-benders alike, good kids and bad kids. It was the step before the real world outside of school and it was pretty accurate at representation.

As Jason input the combination to his locker he heard the sound of something slamming into a locker, _And the great struggle begins_. he thought to himself. Peeking over his shoulder he saw that one of the younger students made the mistake of getting in Xang's way.

Xang was the school's most athletic student. And that came with him being a ass to most of the students who attended the school and got in his way. The fact he was decent with earth ending made him more imposing. Jason made a point to avoid him since he once heard a rumor that he dropped a brick of earth on a guy's toe for no reason.

Though it's just a rumor so it's kinda hearsay. Xang had a athletic build, he was planning to go into pro-bending one day and the way things were going he was on his way. But his personality was...jockish. He also had a long wet looking hair that resembled hat hair.

"What did you say you little street rat?" Xang asked the boy he held up to his locker. The guy was about 17 or 16 but he was a pipsqueak compared to Xang.

"I-I-I said I'm not going to give you my homework." he stuttered, making Jason's eyes widen. _This guy is either brave or stupid...well considering he got his homework done I'll go with brave._

Xang grinned, "Oh that's good." he said sarcastically, "Gives me a reason to practice on you then." he said raising a fist.

Usually Jason just keeps to himself and doesn't get involved with others. But looking at the guy Xang had in his grasp, he couldn't help but think if it was him in his position. _He's going to bury me six feet under isn't he_? Jason thought. "Don't hurt him Xang." he said without thinking.

The bulky teen turned to him and the whole hall seemed to freeze at the words that left his mouth. "What was that?" he asked, turning to me and dropping the teen he had in his grasp. Some of the students carried in with their day and walked past the scene as it began to unfold.

Others decided to sit back and watch the show. "I don't think I heard that, what exactly did you say?" he asked as he closed in on Jason, looking around nervously for a escape route.

"Ummm...don't be a bully?" he provided weakly. Getting a few chuckles from the surrounding crowd, _This may sadly be the most attention I've gotten all week._

"Oh! Well sorry I offended you." Xang said right before he kneed Jason in the stomach. The air left the teens lungs as he bent down to the floor, clutching his gut in pain. Jason was a wallflower if anything, not a fighter.

"Wanna repeat that?" Xang asked as he leaned down above Jason's head mockingly. _Yeah I would like a side of scrambled eggs with that. _Jason thought sarcastically.

Against his better judgement, Jason spoke, "No thanks. I wanna keep a few ribs in one piece." he said snippily. Before Xang could retaliate, the bell rang. _Thank you god!_ Jason exclaimed in his mind.

As he picked himself back up, Jason saw Xang send a sneer at him as he went to go join his friends. Getting his books up off the floor, Jason was surprised when he saw a hand holding a book out to him. Looking up, he saw the teen he saved from Xang's wraith. "Thanks." he mumbled as he handed the book to him.

Jason gave him a smirk, "No problem." he said as he stood before heading towards his class. The teen waved the other goodbye as he headed to his own class, "And now I'm late. Guess that's what I get for playing the hero." Jason muttered as he entered his classroom late.

…

As the schooldays wound to a close, Jason found himself rubbing the sore spot in his gut while he exited the school building. "Guy hits like a moose lion and is just as smart." he said to himself as he made the trek home.

Walking across the sidewalk as a sato mobile zoomed by in front of him. "Watch where your going moron!" the driver shouted. Jason let out a sigh, _Well today is just getting better and better isn't it?_

Walking down the street at a slow pace, Jason approached a alley where two figures awaits him. "I want to say for the record that I think this is a stupid idea." the male said.

The female let out a groan of frustration, "Well this is the only way to see if he's ready so deal with it. Now get ready." she said as the two got ready for the trail Jason was about to face.

As the teen passed by the alley, a deafening cry of a woman pierced the air, "HELP! OH SPRITS HELP!" the screams came from the darkness of the alleyway. Jason hesitated to say the least, his mother taught him to get to the pice in case of a emergency.

But this was different, this was happening, here and now. By the time the police would get here it may already be too late. But whose to say that if he does go and do something he won't get hurt?

Jason looked down the street, no one would be coming anytime soon. _Ohhhhhhh damnit! Mom is going to kill me if I don't die in this alley! _Jason thought as he ran down the dark alley. The screams seemed to bounce off the stone walls, making seem like the cries of help we're coming from every direction.

Jason came to a fork in the alley. Checking both ways, he heard the screams come down the right alleyway and headed down cautiously. Soon, the teen came to a abandoned store, the windows were bot added up and the name was scratched out beyond recognition. "HELP! PLEASE HELP!" the woman's voice cried out.

Jason ran towards the door and attempted to pull out the wooden boards to no avail. "Ok no choice," he backed up the wall opposite of the door, "I'll have to break it down!" he said, running at full speed towards the wooden boards.

He hit the boards hard but was more hurt than the boards, "Ow..." he said as he picked himself up. The woman's screams had ceased and it began to worry Jason, was he too late? Did he make a dumb mistake when he didn't call the police?

He pushed those thoughts out of his head and scanned the building for a alternate way into the building. The only apparent way into the building was a window missing a board.

The only problem was that the window was no where near the fire escape.

"Oh crap I should get the police." Jason said. He may have been brave, but that didn't make him a fool, from that height there was a good chance he could fall and hurt himself...or die.

Jason looked at the fire escape and let out a breath, "This is crazy. I'm insane. I am going to die." Jason said as he climbed the ladder up to the third floor window, he tried to kick the boarders window on the fire escape but to no avail. "I'm so going to die." he said as he put his foot on the ledge.

Jason put clasped his fingers on the window frame and shimmied along the ledge until the next window was in stepping distance. Getting as close to the ledge as he could, he put his foot on the next windowsill.

He lost his balance, "Oh shit!" Jason yelled as he nearly fell off the side of the building. Looking down, he felt his stomach drop to his shoes. "One more window...I better get a reward or something for this." he said as he transferred to the next window.

Jason slipped into the building feet first, "Hello? Miss are you hurt?" he called out, entering the dark room, he heard something fall over. On the far side of the room was a door, Jason cautiously approached the door and put his ear up to it.

He heard moans on the other side. Opening the door and entering, he felt like he had walked into a black abyss. There was nothing but darkness surrounding him, he turned to open the door to let more light in but it seemed to vanish in the darkness.

But he could clearly see his hands and body, like the sun was out but everything else didn't produce color, "Well took you long enough." Jason turned around and saw who was probably the damsel in distress.

She wore a pair of red boots that was brought out by the black pants, mostly hid under the red buttoned up trench coat. Her red hair seemed to be blown by a invisible breeze that Jason couldn't feel. Her gaze on him his ego d red glasses, "Um...thanks?" Jason replied, unsure of what was really going on.

The woman smiled, "Oh no thank you. You passed the test with flying colors." she explained as she waved her finger in the air.

This just made Jason more confused, "Uh...test? I'm a little...very confused here." he said, reevaluating the situation. It wasn't everyday that he finds himself in a room with no door. "Ohhh I get it. Your a earth bender that blocked out the door." Jason said in realization.

"And then you say you'll only let me out of I pay you; look my mom took me to the circus before, I know how this trick works." Jason said, getting a confused look out of the woman. It was a pretty good circus after all.

"Well if your so smart. Tell me how I can do this." she said, snapping her fingers. Jason felt the floor pulled out from under his feet and he feel to the ground. Hard.

Picking himself up, Jason rubbed the lump that was forming in his abdomen, "Jeeze! Do you usually drop people like that? Because that was uncalled for! I mean-" Jason looked up to see that the woman was gone, "Ok...color me impressed." he said as he looked around for her.

"Up here." she stated. Looking up, Jason's mouth hung open. The woman was on the ceiling with her hair pointing down, there is no plausible way that can happen, bending or not.

"I...how..you...ceiling.." he stuttered out, not believing what he was seeing.

The woman hopped down from the ceiling, "As I was saying you passed. Congrats. And sorry in advance." she said apologetically. As she spoke, a small spider climbed out if her coat pocket, unnoticed by Jason, and descended to the floor by a web line.

Jason's face showed he was still shocked but his voice was fairly calm, "What exactly did I pass?" he asked as the small spider crept across the floor, a slight glow to it.

The woman shrugged, "I guess you should know. Let's just say that after searching for the right...candidate, I thought you'd be the best." she explained. The spider crawled up the teen's shoe and the side of his pants.

Jason collected himself out of his shocked state, "Who are you?" he asked. The spider attached a web line to the teen's shirt and swung to his hand.

The woman smirked, "I'm sorry where are my manners?" she held her gloved hand out to Jason, "Madam Web, at your service." Jason was hesitant but took the hand and shook it.

"Jason O-rou." he said.

Madam Web smiled, "I know. And sorry again." she said. Before Jason could ask why, a stinging pain shot throughout his right hand. Breaking his hand away from Madam Web's grasp, he looked down on his hand and saw the cause of this sudden pain.

A small spider.

Jason began to feel nauseous, before he could do anything, he passed out into Madam Web's arms, "And there's your answer."

…

"Gah!" Jason exclaimed as he awoke. Looking around, he found himself in his room, his school bag in his chair and his shoes off his feet. "What in the Sprit World?" he muttered to himself.

Looking at the clock on his nightstand beside his bed, he saw his mother wouldn't be home for a while, _Sprits that dream seemed so...so real. I mean that Madam Web, she stuck to the ceiling! That's not scientifically possible! _Jason thought as got up from bed.

Jason couldn't get past it, there's not many benders in the Borough he lived in. Benders can cling to walls, but to do that they tend to make holes in the wall they want on. But Web did it like it was like walking on the floor, so either she was a amazing bender, of it was a natural gift.

As strange as you can call natural that is.

Jason shook his head if those thoughts and headed into the main room to listen to the radio. Unaware of the pair of eyes outside his window, "I'm not creepy. Am I?" Julia Carpenter, aka Madam Web asked.

The man shrugged, "You are the new creepy clairvoyant. So it kinda comes with the territory." The man said, making Julia roll her eyes, "Come on, let's leave him for today, we'll see how he reacts tomorrow.

…

"Wake up!" Ava said as she shook her son awake from under his covers. Her son replied with a groan of discomfort, it was Friday and he wanted nothing more than to sleep in. Ava smiled, "Fine, I guess I can eat your breakfast that I worked so hard on to prepare for you." she said, trying to guilt her son into getting out of bed.

Jason threw the covers off him, "I'll get dressed." he said with enthusiasm. Ava smiled as she exited her son's room, leaving her son to dress himself. Jason opened his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, a black long sleeve, and a orange and white tee over the black shirt.

Exiting the room, Jason sat down to the table to see a bowl of cereal, orange juice, and perfectly bronzed toast. "Well...it looks pretty good." Jason tried.

Ava patted his shoulder, "Tastes better than you think. Now hurry up before your late again." she said as Jason sat down to eat.

"That was Xang's fault!" Jason exclaimed, trying to defend his lateness.

Ava gave him a pointed look, "Uh huh. Then why is it I got a call last night saying that Xang accused you of threatening him?" she asked. She knew her son wasn't like this other boy but she wanted his side of the story.

Jason munched on his cereal, "The only thing I threatened was his masculinity. Nothing else." he said plainly. Making Ava chuckle.

"That's my boy. A smart mouth who knows how to use it." she said, ruffling up his hair.

After finishing breakfast and giving his mother a kiss goodbye, Jason rushed down the hall in a attempt to redeem his lateness from yesterday. As Jason ran towards the stairs, he lost his footing at the top step and fell!

Before Jason knew what was happening, his left arm shot out onto one of the steps and stopped his body from flailing midair. He pushed himself off and landed on his feet, much to his own shock, "How...the..?" he started down the next flight of stairs slower, not wanting to test himself again.

_Ok ok, that was...that was a once in a lifetime shot in the dark! Yeah, yeah that's it! _Jason reason in his mind. Jason exited the building and continued on his way to school, trying to put what just occurred out of his mind.

As he continued away from his home, he saw his neighbor, Mr. Shin, talking to some ruff looking men. They had tattoos going all over their body along with a few scars and missing teeth. "So tomorrow then?" one of them asked.

Jason came to a slow walk as he listened into his neighbor's response, "If I wanna take out Jōn-Kai, it's gotta be a surprise." Zolt answered. Jason kept his head low and continued walking. His mom taught him that, 'You need to know when, and when not to get involved.' from a young age. And now seemed like one of those times not to get involved.

…

The schooldays seemed to drag on, as it does on many Fridays. Only today Jason couldn't stop thinking of what happened the dream that he had, _Was it really a dream? I mean people dream up some crazy things and people don't walk on ceilings. And spiders..._

Jason stopped his inner ramblings and looked down at his hand, a small insect bite. Well technically it's arachnid.

_Ok...maybe it wasn't a dream_. Jason thought as he laid the hand on his desk and covered it with the other. _This morning when I fell...it was like instinct, like I've done it before. Obviously I haven't bit it's still strange._

Jason's mind dwelled on the events of yesterday and the morning for the rest of the day.

…

Jason practically dragged his feet as he exited the school, the majority of the the student body merely passed him by. _Is this really happening? I mean this is ridicules, if I got stung by a vulture wasp I wouldn't grow wings! I'd die...probably._

As the schoolyard and surrounding area began to empty, Jason found himself walking though the street with a speeding car heading his way! The car honked it's horn loudly, knocking Jason out of his daze just in time to see the satomobile coming towards him.

Jason didn't think when he jumped our of the way, closing his eyes and wishing for the best.

The car sorbet swerved, the kid came out of no where! He slammed on the breaks and lurked forward over the wheel. Looking back in the mirror, the road was barren with no sign of a kid. The man let out a bratt of relief and pressed down on the accelerator.

Jason creeked open a eye at the sound of a car driving away. The teen let out a shaky breath and pushed himself up off the ground but froze, the ground was bricks instead of concrete. Jason looked down between his legs and his brain shut off.

He was stocking to the side of a building.

Jason started to hyperventilate, tentatively took one hand off the side of the building and stick his fingers further up the side of the building. The young teen felt a small rush go through him, he pivoted his shoes so that his toes touched wall.

He began to crawl. One hand in front of the other, one step at a time until it was like walking, "This is...this is...Spectacular!" Jason said excited when he found a rhythm and climbed the building. When he reached the tiled roof, Jason hopped up to the slanted roof and stood tall.

Looking around he felt a thrilling sensation go through his body. Cloning over the rooftop, Jason could see the entire extent of the borough he lived in. Looking over the ledge of the building and saw the spot were he jumped and where he was at on the wall.

"If I can jump that far, how far can I hop." He said as he saw how close the next building was on the way to his apartment. Taking a few steps back, he sprinted forward towards the ledge and jumped at the last second. Jason flew through the air and nearly overshot the building, at the last moment he grasped a small iron smokestack, snapping off it's base.

"Holy crap." Jason muttered as he held the iron in his hands. The iron was indented were he grasped it, and he didn't even use his full strength! "Ok, maybe I should learn how to do this crap first before I do this stuff on a regular basis." he said to himself as he began to snap the iron apart like a twig.

…

The industrial district of Republic City spanned a good chunk of the Eastern part of the city. Most of the middle class work force goes here for daily jobs, and even though most of the factories showed smoke coming from the towers that attached to them during the day, a few abandoned ones were present and yet to be refitted.

And it was the perfect place for Jason to practice his new powers.

After making sure the old factory was abandoned, Jason dropped his bag near the open gate from which he entered and got to work.

"Ok...so I can crawl on walls, have super strength...what else can I do?" the teen asked aloud. Looking up to the catwalk on the wall, Jason readied himself before crouching down and launching into the air towards the catwalk.

It wasn't as high up as when he first did this but it was still a ways up. Jason actually overshot the railing and landed feet first on it. Jason panicked for a second but was surprised when he didn't find a struggle standing upright. "Ok this is friggin sweet." he said aloud as he began to walk the railing with outstretched arms.

As he walked along he became more confident and jumped up in the air and landed back on the railing, "Add agility to the list." he said as he transferred to the wall and crawled long the wall. Jumping down to the ground floor, he went to a nearby unfinished satomobile.

The young man looked down at his hands, "I wonder..." he asked himself. The teen bent down and grasped the bumper of the rusted vehicle. He lifted the vehicle up until it was over his head, "Holy shit!" he exclaimed as he rolled the car over singlehandedly. "If that's just by lifting.." Jason made a fist and punched the roof of the car as hard as he could.

It made a fist-sized hole in the roof. "Oh man...I could crush a guys head." the teen stated in shock. "Better not go full force with the punches." he muttered. Looking up to the wires above holding the assembly line.

Leaping up, Jason grasped the wires, swinging around one a little. Jumping to the next one, he did a small backflip for a bit of flair.

…

Running along the rooftops, Jason leaped across the distance that separated the buildings with a spinning corkscrew. Landing on the next building with a roll and broke out into a sprint to the next ledge.

He leapt from the roof to the wall of the taller building next to it, scurrying across it as his apartment/home came into view. Jason had the biggest grin on his face as he sprung from the building to his apartment, "WHOAHOOO!" he yelled out as he landed on the building.

Crawling around the corner of the building, Jason approached his bedroom window and peaked in, finding no sign of his mother, he opened the window and climbed in. "Sprits I can't wait to show mom what-" he stopped himself.

_Whoa whoa whoa, should I even tell her? I mean how would she even react? This isn't exactly puberty, it's not a extremely awkward talk about sex, I really don't need another one of those. Should I even tell anyone? _Jason pondered as he sat down on his bed, laying his schoolbag on the foot of the bed.

_God what of the city council or someone high up finds out? Oh god what if this is just the beginning! What if I grow arms and legs and eyes! _Jason thought in a small panic. There was no way to tell what happened to him.

"Madam Web!" Jason exclaimed as he sprung up from the bed. _I'll just go to where I found her and-_

"Jason hon? You home?" Ava called out from the living room fallowed by the closing of a door. Jason let out a sigh, _I can't tell her, not yet at least. he decided in his mind_.

He walked over to the door and opened it, "Right here mom." he said, closing the door behind him. His mother was carrying some nice plates from the cabinet to the table when he came in, making her trip.

Jason's hand shot out and clasped his hands over the plates. He unintentionally broke them, and cut his hand in the process. _Add reflexes to the list as well_. he thought as he let a hiss out. "Oh shit! Stay here." Ava said as she got a rag from the sink and pressed it into her son's hand.

She searched the cupboards under the sunk and pulled out a first aid kit. "I think there's something on this rag mom." Jason joked as she got the disinfectant and bandages.

"Shut up and give me your had." she said wiry worry in her voice.

…

Julia Carpenter and her accomplice watched from the nearby rooftop, "So...there's nothing we can do to stop it from happening?" the man asked.

The psychic shook his head, "It's up to him to act. And as much as you want to stop it, it will happen." she said sadly, knowing that the teen would face his first real trial soon.

The man sighed, "This isn't even right. If we...if I can help-"

"You'll be messing things up worse than they already are." Madam Web interrupted. "I hate this more than you think. If it were

Rachel..." she shook her head, "This has to happen for the greater good. You and I both know it."

The two figures stood in silence as the teen enjoyed his last night if having a normal life.

**AN: Well? What do you guys think? Let me know in the review box. I'll continue this regardless probably since I already got a whole story going on. Anyway, leave a review if you want and thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

…Comes with great Responsibility

The next morning when Jason arose from bed, his mind flooded with yesterday's events still on his mind. His hand was wrapped in a bandage from last night's accident. _I can't use these...powers...if I do and someone sees me...well the last thing I want is my mom to see me being dragged off by the United Forces for scientific testing. Ughhhh, probes_. the super powered teen thought as he got dressed.

Putting his glasses on, Jason exited his room and saw his mother in the middle of cooking breakfast. "Morning mom." he said as he sat down to eat, ready for whatever the day had in store for him.

His mother turned to him surprised, "Oh! I didn't think you'd be up this early hon." she said, finishing making up breakfast. The teen sat down at the breakfast table while Ava put the finishing touches on the food, "So how's the hand doing? Feel better?"

Jason looked down at the lightly bloodied bandage, it didn't sting when he pressed down on it. _Ok super healing? Come on since when do spiders have that?_ Jason thought to himself, "Feels better, sorry about the plates again." he apologized, recalling the shattered shards that they needed to clean up the night before.

Ava smiled sweetly at her son, "Just be happy you didn't need stitches." she said as she brought her son his food.

_It would probably be healed anyway. _Jason thought but nodded in response to his mother. As he ate, he heard the sound of something being dropped, "What was that?"

Ava rolled her eyes, "That would be our neighbor doing spirits knows what." she said with a annoyed sigh. She rubbed her forehead in a attempt to ease the migrate she gained from the sounds of her neighbor's activities. She turned to her son, "Look just keep out of his way. You see the kind of people he hangs out with, it's better if you just avoid people like that all together." she advised, grabbing the plate that once had her son's food.

Jason rolled his eyes, "I already avoid them, it's why I'm not out there bustling people and enjoying all the free time I get while their in jail." he joked.

Ava turned away from the sink and gave him a pointed look, "I'm serious Jason. Stay away from Zolt. He's trouble. People like that..." she shook her head of that train of thought, "Never mind...just please do as I ask." she pleaded.

Jason half smiled, "Alright alright, I mean I was meaning to go over and knock some sense into him for that racket, but that's out the window." he said as he rose from the table while his mother rolled her eyes.

"Smart mouth. You are such a smart mouth it's not even funny." Ava said, shaking her head at her son, smiling nonetheless.

Jason smirked while he got his shoes on, "And the ladies love me for it." he replied sarcastically. Jason hadn't spent his high school years engaged with socializing with the opposite sex. And I doubt that I'm going to get a lot of female friends when they find out about my sticky fingers. he mused himself.

His mother smiled and wrapped a arm around his shoulders, "Why do you say that? A smart, strapping young man like yourself? I bet you'll find a girl by the end of this year." she said, giving him embrace of encouragement.

"The fact that you just called me 'strapping' only adds to my doubt mother." Jason said with a deadpanned tone. He was geek, but he was proud if it, not many can say that.

Ava swatted his back, "Oh hush! Now go on, get to school. Stay safe, and I love you." she said, walking him to the door. The young teen smiled and picked up his bag by the door leading out into the hallway.

Jason gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, "Love you too mom. Bye." Jason said as he exited the small apartment. Unlike most mornings when he had to rush down the hall and out his apartment building but with his newly discovered powers, he could easily make it to school before the first bell rings.

As he walked down the hallway, he saw one of the people Zolt was speaking with the day before. He was a skinny man in a dirty wife beater shirt, judo pants and bands in his wrists. He had tattoos which had dragons that were soaked into most if not all of his visible skin save for the face. His bald head was covered by a bowlers hat, his face had a scar on his left eye.

He was carrying a red container that reeked of kerosine, so the face that he was smoking a cigar while carrying the gas can made Jason give him a skeptical look. Is he seriously smoking while carting around something that is made for starting fires? Jason questioned.

The man caught him staring at him as the teen walked by. The man clamped a hand on Jason's shoulder, making him freeze in place, "There something you wanna say four eyes?" he asked, the gas can swinging in his other arm.

_Yeah for a wise guy your more stupid than you look._ Jason thought, thankfully he didn't speak that, "Nice hat." he said simply. The man stared at him for a second before chuckling and letting go of the young man. Jason watched as he brought the gallon of gas into Zolt's room, inside there where three men, a bulky man in noble like clothes, and Zolt himself.

Jason knew that they where doing something bad, and that someone would get hurt, _My powers...but if use them to stop him, what's stopping them from hurting my mother?_ Jason thought as he stood there, watching the door close. The teen let out a sigh and continued down the hall to the stairwell. Checking to see if anyone was watching, Jason vaulted over the railing and fell to the ground floor, coming to a crouch with one hand on the ground.

"That's never getting old." Jason said smirking as he walked out the door to his apartment. Walking around the side of the building, he hopped up to the wall and began to climb, "Maybe I should buy a hoodie to wear when I do this." he muttered as he passed a window with someone inside feeding his pets.

…

"So it's all set up?" Zolt asked. Joe Pang, his second in command nodded. Joe had a silk suit on that covered up his actual muscle, everyone thought that the big guys are only good as bouncers. But Joe is actually a rock under all that fat, and he knew how to use it in a fight.

"The body's on it's way up. Look once we start this, there's no going back. You sure about this boss?" Joe asked. He and Zolt were friends since they could first be thrown in a cell together, that's actually how they first met.

"Jōn-Kai has been in charge of the Triple Threats long enough, time for a change in management. And last thing he's expecting is a dead man knocking him off his pedestal." Zolt explained as he walked to the window. "Besides. What kind of boss would want to live in a shithole like this?" he asked as he turned to his accomplice.

Just missing Jason climb the wall and run on the rooftop towards his school.

The knock at the door made Zolt ready a flame in his hand, "Whose there?" he asked as he approached the door, ready to fight who ever it is.

"It's me." Dragon Yang said from the other side of the door. The reason for his name being the art on his body that depicted the beasts themselves, "Now open the damn door before someone sees me!" he angrily hissed. Zolt opened the door, helping Dragon drag the corpse in.

…

Jason looked down at his lunch with unsatisfied look on his face. He was paired with Xang for a writing project, and to say that Xang protested against it was a understatement. The subject he had to write about was loss, it can be almost anything, loss of innocence, loss of money, loss of a job, things like that. _Worst thing that Xang's probably lost is a pro-bending game_. Jason thought realistically.

Contrary to what people thought, Pro Bending is a legitimate sport, as new as it was it was catching on fast. Jason never attended a game mostly because he had no reason too, but like anyone his age, he knew the basic rules from hearsay. But that wasn't the only thing on Jason's mind..

What he saw in Zolt's apartment was still present in his mind, he could have done something, and even of he didn't he could have told someone. _But with people like Zolt, they would just buy out the jury or something_, Jason may be young, but even he knew that if people have enough money and power, they can get away with almost anything.

"Dude look!"

"Holy Sprits.."

"Everyone get back from the windows!"

Jason looked up from his food and saw that most of not all of the students that where eating was now pressed up ago at the large glass window that covered a expanse of the cafeteria. Jason sat up and made his way to the crowd, "What's going on?" he asked one of the boys at the back.

"I don't know, I can't see." he replied, Jason tried to peek over the onlookers heads but to no avail. Walking to the wall, Jason saw that all the students were looking out the window before climbing up enough to see what the commotion was all about. When he could see, he froze in place.

There was a fire in the Dragon Flats Borough. And the smoke looked like was coming from his apartment building!

Jason dropped down from the wall and ran towards the exit of the cafeteria, he didn't care if got in trouble, he needed to make sure that his home was ok. The teen burst through the doors of the school and darted across the street, jumping over a car and onto a wall in the process and climbing as fast as he could.

Once he reached the rooftops, he leapt to the next building and sprinted until he raged the next one and repeated until he got to his apartment building.

It was burning like hell itself.

_Moms ok, she's got to be okay._ Jason thought as he scanned the crowd for his mother, he looked for black hair tied up in a ponytail. She's ok, she's ok, she's ok, she's-

"Someone's still in there!" A tenant shouted to the fireman as they arrived . Jason's heart stopped in his chest, without thinking, he jumped into the nearest window on the third floor.

"Mom!" He called out as he covered his mouth as nose with his sleeve. The firemen won't get up in time with the fire, it was up to him to save his mother. The room he landed in had flames gathering in the corners of the room, Jason ran to the door and kicked it, shattering the wood.

"Mom where are you!" Jason called out with a cough, the halls were filled with smoke, he needed to find her fast. The building began to shake and a price of the ceiling fell down the stairwell. The teen looked up and felt his stomach drop, this place wasn't going to hold.

The fire was worse on the top floor, the smoke was so bad that it began to cloud Jason's glasses. At the end if the hallway was his home, his only home that he knew for the past 16 years of his life. And it was turning to ashes right before his eyes.

Jumping from the wall to the hallway, the fire's roar showed that this is where it started. Jason summoned his bravery am and jumped right through the flames, charring his cloths in the process. He grabbed the door and ripped it off it's hinges, "Mom!" he called out through the smoke.

"J-Jason?" The teen's heart could burst from joy at the sound of her voice. Heading to where the voice was heard he froze.

His mother was trapped under a piece of rubble from the ceiling.

Ava had a cut on her forehead that was bleeding profusely, her once white skin was covered with ash and soot. "Jason? What are you-" she stopped in a coughing fit as her son kneeled beside her. The piece of ceiling must have weighed few hundred pounds.

"I'm gonna get you out of here mom." he said as he gripped the edges of the rock.

Ava grasped her son's wrist, "Sweetie, you need to go . You can't possibly lift-" she stopped herself when her son lifted the concrete of her and threw it aside. "H-how?"

Jason picked his mother up bridal style, "Adrenaline mom, come on let's get out before I run out if it." Jason lied as he carried her out the door. Jumping once agin over the fire, he was about to give a excuse to his mom but her eyes where closed. "M-m-mom?"

Jason was a bit grateful for her unconsciousness , that way he didn't have to explain how they survived a drop from a four story building level. Running to the door, he rammed his shoulder through the door, "Help! Please help!" Jason shouted as the EMTs took Ava from his arms.

"She has signs of smoke inhalation, get the oxygen ready!" one if them shouted as he loaded her onto a gurney, Jason fallowed alongside her as they put a air mask on her. "How did you find her?" the paramedic asked.

Jason stared down at his unconscious mother, "Sir how did you find her?" the medic asked again more frantically.

Jason shook his head as they approached the ambulance, "Under some heavy rubble." he said simply. He didn't want to make it sound suspicious so they'd question him, he didn't want to leave his mother's side until she was out of the woods.

One of the medics ran to the ambulance, "Call central, tell them we may have something punctured." Jason's heart seemed to be taking breaks today because he swore he felt his heart stop again.

Jason hopped in the ambulance as they loaded her in, grasping her hand as they laid her down.

Two figured watched as the ambulance drove away. "Ok so he did the right thing. He saved her." the man said in relief, watching the white car speed away towards the nearest hospital.

Madam Web sighed, "We don't exactly know that for sure."

The man looked at her shocked, "What? But he saved her life. She's going to okay...right?" he asked, hoping that the kind woman would recover fully.

She shook her head, "This world isn't exactly the most advanced, it's one if those things that can go both ways." Julia explained sadly. Right now back home she was in a coma, the only reason she could project herself here is the strength her powers, she knew what Jason was going through, he was worried sick about his mother like her daughter was.

"All we can do right now is pray." she said, her sad eyes hidden behind her glasses.

…

Jason sat outside of emergency with too much on his mind for someone his age. The doctors passed him by, casting looks of pity on him at his disheveled state that he had. He was silently praying that his mother would be alright when two people approached him, "Jacob O-rou?" man voice asked.

The teen looked up and nodded. A man with formal dress attire stood with a badge, they where with the metal ending police force. The other was a woman, she was in full uniform, she had graying hair with three horizontal scars in her cheek, _Wait, why does she look so familiar? _

The woman stepped forward, "Mr. O-rou, I'm Lin Bei-Fong. We have a few questions." she said. Jason would have been gawking if the situation was different but he shrugged. _I don't care if they found out about my powers, just please let mom be safe._

Lin noticed how the boy kept glancing to the door to where his mother was, on the way over she heard if how he carried her out of the building running on pure adrenaline. _Kid must be exhausted._ she thought. "If you want we can talk somewhere else." Wei added in.

Wei was one of Lin's best detectives, she asked him to come along since he's been working on graphing the hierarchy of the gang, the Triple Threats. With newer gangs beginning to pop up over Republic City. And it's been hell on everyone to try and take them down.

The teen shook his head, "No...in case..." he wasn't sure in case of what.

Wei straightened himself, "We just got word back from the Fire Marshall. The fire wasn't a accident." Jason looked up at this, "And it started from your next door neighbor's room. And the landlord doesn't have his name on file, do you know who he is or what he looks like?" he asked, kneeling down to look at the teen.

Jason 'a hands clenched the sides of his seat, "Zolt. Zolt Shin." he said as calmly as he could. _Zolt...Zolt, if anything happens to my mother I swear to god-_

The door to Ava's room opened and out stepped a doctor in his white coat. Lin and Wei looked at him expectantly, instead if answering her turned to Jason, "She's awake, and she's asking for you." he said.

Jason took that as his excuse to enter the room. Leaving the doctor alone with the detective and his boss, "Will she be alright?" Lin asked, looking into the room at the boy at his mother's side.

The doctor let our a sigh, "I'm afraid that she inhaled too much smoke before he got to her. It's already in her lungs, and the pice if rubble made one of her arteries burst...all we can do is...make her comfortable." he said, looking inside.

Jason had his mother's hand in a tight grip. The doc was exaggerating when he said she was awake, her eyes were barely open but she was smiling, "What was that you where saying about girls this morning?" she asked.

Jason gave a heartfelt smile, "Yeah...so how are you holding up?" he asked, glad she was improving. The sound of doctors and patients were gone now that they where in the private room, it was only him and his mother.

Ava looked at her son sadly, "Jason...I'm not gonna lie... I don't think I'm getting out of here." she said, making the teen's heart snap. All of Jason's life his mother has been there for him, his father left them when he was only a babe, leaving only Ava to take care of him.

Jason frantically shook his head, "M-M-Mom you'll be alright, the doctors know what they're doing. Just wait you'll be out of here in a month or maybe sooner, it's just some smoke. I got it too so-"

Ava pressed her fingers to her son's cheek, silencing his ramblings. _This isn't happening this isn't happening this isn't happening this isn't happening!_ "This is my fault..." he muttered so only she could hear.

Ava pulled him close and embraced him, "Honey...this isn't your fault...you couldn't have-"

"I saw Zolt's friend carry in a thing of Kerosine into his apartment...I could have told someone...I could have grabbed it and...and.." he blamed himself, if had just done something, anything to just stop them...

Ava kissed his forehead, "Honey, I don't care if you helped them carry it up. You didn't light the fire...Jason look at me." the teen looked at her with tears streaming down his face at her smiling features. "I love you sweetheart. No matter what you do...no matter...who you turn into...I will always love you...got it?" she asked.

Jason let out a sniffle, "Yes ma 'am." he said as he smiled. "I love you too mom." he said, nuzzling his face in her hair. Ava embraced her son, for that was the last time she managed to do so.

…

All that Jason could hear was white noise as people passed him while he sat on the bench outside the room where his mother had passed away in. Jason's emotions were running wild. He was devastated that Ava had died, scared of what would happen to him now, but above all, he was furious at what Zolt had done.

_He needs to pay...he's going to pay in blood...but where the hell do I even start?_ Jason thought. He's not a detective, he doesn't have friends on the police force, and the thing he's doing right now is talking to one of the people who've done things just as if not worse than what Zolt's done.

_Ok...think, don't think about mom now...just think about Zolt, what about his friends?_ Jason pondered silently, _The guy with the gas can. He has to know where Zolt is. If not him, then someone who knows where he is. _Jason concluded as he stood up and began to move towards the nearest exit. The roof.

The young man thought of what his mother taught him. As hard as he could, he couldn't push her out of his mind, 'There's a time to get involved, and a time not to.' her voice said in his head. _The time not to get involved is over. For good! I'm not letting anyone else die from Zolt. I'll track him down until I find him. Then he'll answer for what he's done._ Jason got rid of his bandage on his hand, If it can heal that in a day...

He took off his glasses and blinked a few times, his vision was damn near perfect.

He dropped the glasses and crushed them under his shoe. He was done doing nothing.

…

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Jason managed to get downtown pretty quick, the sun was beginning to set in the distance, it's been a long day for the teenager, and it wasn't over yet. He needed to find Zolt, and if he needed to go up the whole damn food chain if whatever he's a part of, fine.

As long as he finds the son of a bitch.

Jumping from the rooftops to the streets, he began to walk and look for anything...gang related. _Ok yeah maybe I should have gone at this a different way. I mean what are the odds that-_ before he could finish that thought, a woman 'a scream full the air. "Huh. Why don't the police do this?" Jason asked as he ran towards the sounds if the scream.

Another scream rang out, ahead of him was a alleyway, before he went down, he stopped in his tracks. What the hell am I thinking!? If they see my face! If they find out who I am they'll...god who knows what they'll do! Jason thought as he put his hands on the sides of his head.

The woman let out another scream, this one was muffled. It see something off inside Jason, something that made him want to beat the crap out go whoever was doing that. "A mask." he stated with realization. Taking his shirt in his hands, he tore off a section of it from his left side and wrapped it around his face like a bandanna. Using his adhesive powers to make it stay in place.

Jason charged down the alley, there was a woman on the ground with a man ontop of her. Jason automatically knew what he was trying to do and it sickened him. He ran down the alley at full speed. When he reached the man, he drop kicked him off, landing on his fingertips, he pushed himself up and got back up. He looked at the downed man and walked over to him as he began to stand.

"Bad move kid!" he said as he pulled out a knife and slashed at the teen. The new vigilante easily dodged the knife by sidestepping and grabbing his shoulder and slamming the man up to the wall, making the plastered wall crack. "Ok! Ok! Ok! What do ya want man?" he asked with fear in his voice.

Jason glared into the man so hard he could swear he felt heat on his forehead, "I'm liking for a man with dragon tattoos. All over his arms and body. You know him!" he demanded in a growl. He wated answers and was prepared to break a few bones to get them.

The man started to sweat, "No man! If he has dragon tats, he must run with The Triple Threats. I'm with the Red Monsoons!" he exclaimed. _Wait, what? There's more than one gang in Republic City. Well to be fair this is a pretty big city._ Jason thought.

Holding him with one hand, he carried the monster over to a garbage container, "Stay here one second." he said as he flipped the lid open and tossed him inside after throwing the knife away. _You know just fir good measure._..Jason flipped the container itself to make sure he wouldn't escape.

Turning back to the woman, he saw she was up and was pretty scared if what she just saw him do, "Um...hi." Jason greeted, as he approached her. The woman backed up a little from the stranger, "You ok miss?" he asked. The woman just nodded, eyes glued to the trash container where her assaulter was. "Look um...you should probably get the police, I'll keep trashcan Sam back there busy."

Before he knew it, the woman rushed over and embraced her savior, "T-Thank you...if you didn't stop him..." she shuddered, still shaken by the events.

Jason pushed her away gently by her shoulders, "Don't think about the 'if's' right now. Now get out of here, find a policeman, and tell them what happened." he instructed. The girl nodded and ran to the end of the alley not blocked off by a trash bin.

Walking back to the trash container, the young vigilante flipped it back up and opened the lid to see his first victim covered in various things of garbage, "Gah! Was that really-" he stopped when he saw the look the masked man was giving him.

"Ok, here's what's going to happen. Your going to tell me about these Triple Threats, Red Monsoons, and whatever other gangs are in Republic City." he demanded.

The criminal gave him a dirty look, "And of I don't? Then what?" he asked. The masked man simply stood by the wall he was slammed against and threw a fist into it, making a hole in it.

"And I'm not a earth bender. So, from the top." Jason said.

…

The criminal told Jason everything he knew about the gangs, Triple Threat, Red Monsoons, and Agni Kai. It took until the sun went down but Jason got all the information that was needed.

The teen was in the ledge of the a building with his legs hanging off the side in downtown, "God...things are worse than I ever thought. Three big gangs, all of them want Republic City to be under their control." he said aloud. The night sky brought a dangerous tone to the city, the street lamps casting shadows on the roads.

Jason sighed, "Well if Zolt is with the Triple Threats, then that's who I go after. Now how do I find a Triple Threat to tail back to the hangout?" he thought aloud. "It's not like there's a directory of gang members that-" he stopped himself. He may not have something like that. But the police do.

…

The Police headquarters was pretty intimidating. With the statue of Toph Bei-Fong standing in front of it, it just screamed 'police'. As Jason walked into the police station, he looked around for anyone resembling the tattooed man. If he needed to, he'd use the police to lead him to them. He wanted the first crack at him.

The young man approached the receptionist, a young brunette in a black dress who was focusing on her nails, "Ummm, excuse me?" Jason asked politely.

The young woman turned to him, all smiles, "Yes, how can I help you?" she replied with equal politeness. _Well if you work here I guess you have to be perky_.

"I'm looking for a detective Wei? Is he here?" Jason asked.

The woman smiled, "He just went in for his shift." she leaned over the counter and pointed to the corridor, "Down that way, door at the end of the hall. You'll see him at his desk." she explained. After thanking the receptionist, he fallowed her instructions and opened the door to the room.

"Wow..." Jason muttered as he saw about a dozen policemen go like engines on their typewriters. _Well they do say that most of the job is paperwork but still... _Shaking his head if thoughts, he spotted the detective sitting at his desk.

Wei was reading the report on the body that they found in the burnt house from yesterday. They found a body inside the apartment that the kid had pointed them to, and they found a body. They're not sure if it's Zolt's but they're running testes to be positive. "Umm, detective Wei." the man looked up from his papers to see the kid from yesterday. _Jeez, poor kid looks like he hasn't slept at all._ he thought.

"Hey...Jason right?" he nodded, "What brings you here?" he asked, gesturing for the teen to sit down at the chair in front if his desk.

Jason cleared his throat, "Yesterday, I saw some guys enter Zolt's apartment, I think they may be...Involved." he stated. Wei felt like the luckiest man alive right now, more leads, more understanding of who they're after.

Wei opened his desk drawer, "That's great, we have some mugshots of some known gang members. If you can match them up with the photo we can go find them." he said as he pulled out the photobook.

Jason nodded, "Anything to help." he said as he opened the book and filled through the book. He actually saw some guys he walked past last night, but it wouldn't do any good if he just went snatching people off the streets, he'd have to catch them in the act to be put away.

After a few minutes of combing through the pages he stopped. Right in the middle of page Twelve was the man. "This is him. Dragon Yang." he said, reading the name below the mugshot. _Get ready asshole, I'm coming for you next._

**AN: I was torn between letting Ava live and die I'll be honest. But I wanted Jason to feel impacted by what he failed to do. Anyway, I should clear done things up.**

**This takes place about TWO YEARS before Legend of Korra takes place. If I just did this when Korra showed up then he'd be a good fighter like mako is with girls.**

**Also there will be Villains that you should recognize from Spider-Man. Who they 'll be I won't say. **

**Next chapter: Jason faces his mistake and meets a friend.**


	3. Chapter 3

Taking on the Triple Threats

"Are you sure? This is him?" he asked, pointing to the picture of Dragon Hang. If the Wei wanted this to stick, the witness had to be completely positive with the ID. Lawyers could reason that there's a hundred men that look like their client, and it's held up in court more times than once.

Jason nodded, "Yeah, guy was carrying a gas can with Dragons tattooed on his arms and chest...please don't tell me that dragon is his real name." Jason lightly joked. _Thank goodness my mother named me Jason instead of four eyes._

Wei cracked a smile, "Nah, his names Poppy." the teen smirked at that. _Of course with a name like that you gotta overcompensate with something._ "But people call him Dragon because he's a water bender that beat expert at fire bending." he explained. _Ok...first time fighting a bender. Hell first fight I ever had was yesterday, I'm going leaps and bounds of who I used to be daily. _

"So any idea where a guy like this would be?" Jason asked. He wanted a general idea of where to start his search, he can cover more ground than the police can without buildings constricting his movements.

Wei raised a eyebrow at that, "Why would you want to know that?" he asked. Jason expected a question such as this so he came prepared with a answer.

"Because I want to know we're not to move to when I'm able to get another place to live." he answered sadly. It was true that since his whole apartment literally went up in smoke. And since Jacob was now orphaned, and without a home, his only real chance was to try and get a job to support himself.

"Oh." Wei said in realization of the young man's situation. "Well your mother had a will set out in her name. I'll be more than happy to give you the address where you can receive any benefits that it entails." Wei spoke, trying to improve the situation if not only a little.

The teenager perked up at the new information. "Thanks. I'll...make arrangements." he said sadly at the realization that he'd have to plan his own mother's funeral. _God this is so messed up. I mean...god_.

Wei sighed, "Look, kid, I get that your mad about what happened to your mother. But you gotta let us work this." Wei said, making Jason look at him with caution. "Look..." Wei folded his hands together, "I understand that you think that the men responsible deserve the absolute worst that we can give them. But what do you think is worse? Ending someone's life, or letting them for in a cell for what they did with no freedom whatsoever?" he asked.

Jason thought on this, these men have hurt countless people before. _But I can't let this go. Mom may have said it's not my fault, but I'm still partially responsible for what happened to her. And what about the people that lost their home when they burned the building?_ They need to pay. the teen thought. "I just want justice." he decisively said.

Wei nodded, "And you'll get it. I promise." he said, but it wasn't enough to erasure the teen. "Look you've helped out so much by IDing this guy. We'll look out for him, seal off all exits out of the city for him and alert the transit department. If we don't find him then, we'll put out a APB." he explained.

Jason nodded, "Ok...if he goes to trial, will I have to testify?" the teen asked, a bit of worry in his tone. If they had a metal bender in the room, they may be able to tell of he's lying.

Wei thought for a moment, "Only if we need your statement, or of your called by the defense. So it's a big maybe." he stated. One thing was for sure. Of Jason was going after this guy, then he would need a better mask than his shirt.

...

Wei walked Jason out of the station before going back in to make a official report. The teen walked to the transit station and hopped on a car heading for Dragon Flats Borough. "If I get called to trail after I find this guy, he'll be able to ID me as easily as I did him. I need a mask. A real one, I can't keep ripping up good, relatively clean shirts after all." he mused as he rode atop the car.

He was sure that the man he prevented from hurting that woman last night couldn't recognize him, he couldn't tell the specific features of his face so it probably worked both ways. So where could he get a mask? Any store could trace it back to him if someone reports what he can do, and making one from scratch isn't likely. Lack of resources and whatnot. _But I know somewhere I could find what I need to make one._

…

The transport had taken him into the heart of the neighborhood, from there he jumped off and began to make his way to the school. "How the hell am I not exhausted? I've been going at this for a day straight without eating. I mean I'm starving, but still, I don't feel tired. Guess I can add stamina to the list of powers." he said as he kept from building to building.

Crawling along the wall of a tall building, he saw his target; Hiroshi Sato High. The theatre department had tons of cloth he could use to make a mask. And since it's Saturday, no one will be in. Jumping down with a summersault to the flagpole below him, he sprung up into the air , using the flagpole as a catapult as he made his way to the school.

…

_God this feels so wired being here after hours._ Jason thought as he walked across the white stones that littered the roof. The teen approached the skylight, below was the theatre where the acting class acted out scenes from the hundred year war. "Wonder what Avatar Aang would do in my shoes." the young vigilante wondered aloud.

Everyone in his class studied about the Avatar of course. Just in case they where part of the class, _Though if it hasn't happened in all these years it won't happen anytime soon. Besides you put the Avatar in public school of all places? Yeah, they'll turn pure evil._ Jason thought as he lifted the glass skylight.

The teen climbed in and swung his legs forward, attaching himself to the ceiling. "Huh...no blood rush to my head. Cool." he said aloud while he crawled along the ceiling until he was above the stage. Jason hopped down past the set of lights, grabbing the metal at the last minute and used his momentum to swing himself down to the stage.

Heading to the side of the stage, he entered the dressing room where all the actors made and put on their costumes. "Ok, time to get to work." he muttered as he went to a rolls of cloth. "Spandex, spandex, jean, tights, spandex, wool? God now I know why the actors hate wearing their costumes. Crotch rot." the teen said dryly as he unrolled a thing of scarlet Spandex.

…

A few hours later, along with a few needles piercing his skin, Jason had finally finished constructing his mask. It was fairly simple, it covered his entire and his his most distinguishable features of his face, save for the eyes. Stuffing the mask under his shirt, Jason exited the small theatre and walked the halls of his school.

"Hey, Jason." the teen in question turned to see the last person he wanted to see, well besides Poppy. Xang. _Of course, just my damn luck_. he thought as he just stared at the other teen.

"Look Xang I'm not in the mood for this right now. I'll work on the project or whatever later but I got my own crap to deal with." Jason said as he began to walk away. He honestly couldn't care less about the project, hell he may just not attended school until he finds this guy.

Xang grasped his shoulder, "Will you just-" he didn't expect Jason to grab his arm and flip him over his shoulder and onto the ground. Xang let out a groan of pain as realization took over Jason.

"I'm sorry, I just-" he started, he honestly didn't mean to do that, it was just a reaction to him. Reflexes acting up.

Xang just stood back up, "No problem man." Jason gave him a strange look, _Ok, either I'm hearing things right now or I'm having a stroke_. Jason thought. Xang rubbed the back of his head, "I'll admit. I kinda deserved that from before." _Ok yeah I'm going crazy aren't I? _

Xang looked down at the floor, "We all heard about what happened. About your mom..." Jason's face hardened. Xang was on thin ice right now. The teen let out a sigh, "Your...your not the only guy whose lost someone.." he muttered, making Jason stop his look he was giving him.

Xang gave the former victim a look of sympathy, "My...advice is try and move on dude. It's hard...but do-able." he said.

Jason sighed, "Ummm...thanks Xang...what are you doing here anyway?" Jason asked. His first guess would be detention but after what he just shared with him he realized that he didn't have any room to judge Xang.

The bigger teen shrugged, "Pro Bending practice." he explained as he began to make his way towards the gym. "Sorry about your mom." he said as he passed. And it was genuine, not like the ones that the doctors gave him when his mother had passed, like he knew the pain itself.

"Thanks Xang." he said with a small smile as he watched Xang's back retreat down the hall. _He's really a nice guy under all that. Who knew?_

"Yeah yeah, you tell anyone you got me on the ground I'll kick your ass." he said as he waved his hand behind him towards the teen. _Ok put a pin in that ridiculous idea._ Jason thought dryly as he continued in the path towards his locker. The lockers where small, enough space to put a student's bag in and a few personal belongings. Jason input the code and opened it and grabbed his bag, wallet with a few Yuans, and hoodie he kept at the school.

…

Jason kept across the space over a alley and continued his even jog towards downtown. He had left his book bag at his temporary home, the warehouse which he fully tested his powers in. It wasn't the safest place to live in, but it was secluded and he wanted that right now.

As if now the teen was fallowing a dispatched police car on it's way towards what assumed was Dragon Yang. He stayed outside the Police station, getting a quick bite to eat at a nearby street vendor, until he saw detective Wei exit the station and enter the cruiser which he was tailing. The hoodie that he wore blocked out his face from a distance but the mask on his pocket was for when he got closer to the hideout where Dragon was at.

As the car came to a stop at a red light, Jason came a halt on the edge if a building, "Ok Wei. Lead me to this guy." He muttered as he got his mask out of his pocket and slipped it over his face. "So this is what spandex feels like. Not as bad as I thought. Not any better either but still."

Wei's car drove forward as the light turned green. Jason leapt down to the street light and jumped from one to another as he fallowed the car around a corner before jumping to the wall and crawling along as Wei pulled to a stop at the side of the road. "Ok, show time." Jason muttered as he fallowed him down the street, no one bothering to look up at the figure on the six story building.

Wei knew this guy, Jackie Tei-low, was with the Agni Kai. Jackie was fairly experienced in the gang life, being almost born into it, so he knew where the major players where. As he walked down the alley, he saw the man in question come out of the shadows from his leaning position on the wall. "About damn time you got here. My boss would flail me of someone saw me talking to you." he said as the two cane face to face.

Jackie was well dressed for a low ranked criminal. He had white suit jacket and dress pants with a black dress shirt. His hair parted in the middle of his head, the hair on his face consisted of a goatee. He looked like a normal guy really.

Wei gave a cautious look behind him, making sure the coast was clear, "Yea same here. But I need info on someone." he explained. They didn't have anything on Jackie, and he was grateful for that, he needed Jackie on the streets to get him the info on the gangs he needed.

Jackie but his lip as he shifted himself, "Look the Kai's are getting suspicious. Another one of their guys goes down-" he started.

"It's the Triple Threat. Don't worry. I just need one, two names tops." Wei explained, putting his informant at ease.

"Oh...well that's different." he said, losing the sense of nervousness. "Well go on. Who are they?" Jackie asked, impatience returning, his boss needed him to get a job done and he was on a schedule.

"Dragon Yang, and Lightning Bolt Zolt." Wei answered simply. He learned the name if the later by asking a few if the criminals that where in lockup at the time, a big player, second in command of the Triple Threats.

Jackie's eyes widened, "Ok last we heard Zolt burned to a crisp in that fire. Jōn-Kai thinks one of us is responsible..." the thug trailed off.

"But?" Wei asked, knowing the time in the informant's voice.

"Jōn-Kai hasn't been heard from in a while since he accused us of offing Zolt. So..." he trailed off. If a street thug like him could figure it out, so could one of Republic City's finest. At least he hoped so or he's been risking his hide for nothing.

"Zolt faked his death...and took over the Triple Threats. This is great." Wei said enthusiastically. He could charge Zolt for fraud, waste of time and resources, and improper disposal of a body.

Jackie crossed his arms, "Before you get all excited, no one knows where the hell he is." he said, making Wei's face drop.

"Shit." he said plainly.

"And he's not even the guy who started the fire." Jackie added, making the detective give him a startled look.

"Then who?" he asked. He promised Jason he would find justice. Even of it wasn't Zolt, someone needed to pay for Ava O-rou's death. But Zolt was involved, so he was a accomplice.

Jackie pointed to his head and tapped it, "Think about it genius. Zolt's a fire bender . He knew he'd be the first suspect, so think of the last guy who would be able to make a fire." he said.

The detective knew who it was, "Dragon Yang. Where's he hiding out?" Wei could get a warrant for his arrest within the hour, he just needs to find him.

Jackie sighed, "Wei, you know he won't give up Zolt." he said, knowing what the man was thinking. If there was one thing he knew about him, it was that he had a code of honor that not everyone understood.

Wei shrugged, "When he sees all the charges we'll pin on him he may have a change of heart. Now where is he?" Wei demanded. He was going to take at least one of these guys down, that'd be enough for now.

Jackie smirked, "He's in the Industrial Area. Remember that new factory that's under construction for Future Industries? Perfect place to hide." he explained.

Wei had heard of it, in response to all the Cabbage Corp lay offs, Hiroshi Sato is making a new facility to help and try to improve the economy. R&D type of place or so they say. "Thanks Jackie. Stay safe."

Jackie smirked, "What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't?" he said, holding his arm out.

The two where I'm fact brothers , Wei was born after Jackie came into the world, by then Jackie was already hanging out with a tough crowd.

Eventually after fights, arguments, good times and bad , they choose different profession, each on the opposite side that the other was on. But Wei always made sure that his brother wouldn't get in trouble. He grasped his brother's arm and shook it, "Just stay safe. Mom still worries."

With a nod of acknowledgement, the two brothers went their separate ways, neither noticed the figure sticking to the wall in the shadows above them. _Now I got you Dragon, this time I'm going to get you. And this time, only one of us is walking away from this_. Jason thought as he begun to climb the wall towards the rooftop.

…

Jason flipped through the air as he made his way through the industrial district. Landing on the side of a smoke stack, he could see the cranes of a construction company a ways away. It had taken him all day to get here but it was about to pay off.

_Got you now you so of a bitch. Your not getting away again!_ Jason angrily thought before pouncing off the steel tower and onto the rooftops once again. As he approached a long administrative building, he decided to try something new. He he jumped onto the wall of this one, he continually jumped his way across the expanse of brick and glass.

When he neared the construction yard, he put his mask on once again.

Landing on a flagpole, Jason went into a crouch, observing the construction yard below him. The entire outside of the site was empty, but the top floor had a single light on in a office. _Bingo_. Jason thought as he jumped to the crane used for making the building where the criminal hid himself in.

Jason landed hands first onto the crane before pushing himself off and into the building's top floor. The construction crew shut off most of the power to the building at night, so the one light in the darkness stood out. As Jason made his way towards the light, he accidentally kicked a pipe , the sound of metal hitting the floor echoed throughout the darkness, "Wha-Whose there?" a voice asked .

Poppy 'Dragon' Chen looked out from his temporary residence. After letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, he saw nobody there, "Goddamn place is already a piece of crap." he muttered to himself. _Just 'cause I started the fire, I gotta stay in this heap of crap? Wonder what give star hotel Zolt is staying at right now. _Dragon thought as he went back into his temporary home.

The office was supposed to go to the plant manager. It was the only place that had a carpeted floor. In place of the desk was a sleeping bag with a bag of his clothes beside it.

Jason looked into the doorway from the ceiling, not expecting Dragon to slash at him with a slice if water!

His reflexes kicked in and he dropped from the ceiling onto his hands and sprung away into the darkness. "You think you can sneak up on Dragon Yang! Think again!" he said, drawing the water back into the pouch as he ran after his assailant.

Jason ran through the darkness, dogging the attacks from Dragon as best he could without looking back. Okay he's actually good, I'm just a rookie at this, but I'm stronger than he is. And I can do a lot more than bending. Time to put myself to the test. Jason thought as he turned to fight.

The two of them where in the unfinished part of the building where the offices would go, but instead of cubicles the room was barren, save for the pillars that littered the room. "You must be the stupidest guy I've ever met." Dragon said as he launched a water pellet right at the masked man.

Jason simply over one foot behind the other vas turned his body to doge it, "No. Your the stupid one. Only moron would fight someone like me." he said with anger in his voice.

Dragon grinned, "Keep saying that while you stand there like a damn target!" he said as he launched a slice of water at the vigilante.

The teen backflips high into the air, easily dogging the attack, and latching onto the ceiling. Dragon couldn't believe what he was seeing, "H-how are you-" he didn't get a chance to finish because his opponent saw this chance to spring away from rah ceiling down towards him.

Dragon managed to temporarily shake off his confusion and doge the attack as the man's fist crushed the ground. _Crap!_ Jason thought as he tried to pull himself out if the floor. Dragon pulled his leg back and rammed it into the masked man's head. "That...did not hurt as much as you thought it did." Jason said in pleasant surprise, and to Dragon's shock.

Pulling his hand out of the ground, he charged the water bender before he knew what hit him. A slug to the gut made him recoil with large gasp of air, "How do you like getting the air stolen from your lungs!" Jason demanded. Dragon thought quickly and sent a slice of water at close range.

Jason barely had enough time to doge it, thinking fast, he leaned backward far enough so that the hem of his hoodie was cut. Transferring his weight to his hands, he did a backward cartwheel and landed on his toes, then sprung himself at dragon ad delivered a fist to the side of his face.

Dragon was taken off his feet by the attack and launched back a few feet. "Why! Why did you do it!" Jason asked as the man struggled to stand up right. When he went to take water from his seal skin, he found it was empty.

Dragon raised his hands in surrender, "Okay okay! I surrender!" he said nonchalantly. The teen kept walking towards him, "What are you deaf! I give up!" he asked with more fear in his voice.

Jason kept coming. The man scrambled away in a attempt to run, Jason saw this coming and jumped in front if him as he was about to get up, "H-how-" the masked man grasped his collar and launched him him into the air, when he came back down, Jason pulled his leg back and swiped him away with it into one of the pillars.

Dragon slid to the ground from the impact, unable to get up without pain shooting throughout him. "Where is he!" Jason demanded as he grabbed him again. "Where is Zolt!" he asked, bringing Dragon's face up to his.

The man shook his head, "I-I-I-I don't know!" he exclaimed, the masked man pulled his fist back, "NONONONONO! I swear I don't know where he is! He just told me to light the apartment! I didn't know it'd get so bad!" he yelled as he covered his face with his hands.

Jason slammed the man's body into the pillar, "You didn't think someone would die from a fire in a building! Are you that damn dumb or did you just leave the mouse sized brain at home today!" Jason asked.

He could crush this guy's skull with one hand, he could rip his arm off, he could do almost anything he wanted to do to this man here with his powers. _Why...why can't I do it? He deserves it! After all this I can't just...I want justice...but this isn't what my mom would want me to do._

"When the police get here. You'll tell them everything. About the fire, Zolt. Everything. Am I clear?" The masked man asked, his own inner conflict resolved, and the criminal's life spared.

The man's face grinned like he was the luckiest man alive, and he probably was at that single moment, "But," his grin disappeared, "if I find out that you kept your mouth shut about it. I'll find you again and break all your limbs. Got it?" Jason asked from under his mask. The man nodded, "Good." the masked teen said before punching him.

Dragon Yang slouched, fallen unconscious from the Teen's punch. Dropping the man to the floor, the teen let out a shaky breath as he removed his mask, showing the rings under his eyes and hat hair. "Ok...now what the hell do I do?"

…

Lin exited the police cruiser as it pulled to a stop, the driving officer and her stepping out of the vehicle. Wei had called her the station, telling her that he found the man responsible for the fire yesterday and that he already had a warrant for his arrest. She had a chunk of the force go with him in case of resistance.

Just as the office was closing up, she got a call that they haven't located yet. "Wei." Lin called out as she entered the construction yard. Officers where scouring the building as well as the surrounding area with no results, and it was irritating Lin to no end, "Any progress?" she asked.

Wei appeared out of a group of officers, "Chief. We haven't found him yet." he said with disappointment. Mainly it was focused on his end, if he had gotten here sooner he could have brought this guy in sooner.

"Damnit." Lin swore under her breath, "This guy is small time. How can he get past 34 metal bending officers?"

she asked. Her people where good, damn good, she trained the people that trained the officers. Of course she still had years of experience over most of them, even the ones that where around when she started didn't have the amount of skills she had.

But skill or no skill, one man can't simply vanish into thin air like this. "Help!"

The officers looked around for the source of the voice, "Where the hell did-" Lin started.

"Up here!" The entirety of the force looked up and let their mouths hang at the site that they witnessed. In the nook of the crane was Dragon Yang, terrified out of his mind at the fact that he was hanging several stories above the ground in a mess of wires.

That was, from his perspective.

Looking at the mass of wires from the ground when the lights from the officers shined on it. Poppy 'Dragon' Yang was I the center of a spider's web, made completely from the building's wiring. "How the hell..." Wei asked.

Lin shook her head of confusion, "Get a rescue team here. Stat!" she yelled out, sending the cops into action.

On a building off in the distance, Jason was watching as the police found his handiwork, and trying to keep himself from laughing at their expressions. Even from this distance he could tell they where shocked to say the least. "Poetic Justice. Not the kind I was looking for but it'll do for now." Jason said to himself as he crawled away into the night.

…

"-I swear the guy was going to pee himself when he woke up twenty stores off the ground. You should have seen the look on his face, I thought I was gonna drop the guy from laughing too hard!" Jason said as he smiled at the memory. Then his expression turned serious, "They still haven't been able to locate Zolt. It's like nobody knows where he is. Or they do and they're not talking...he'll turn up someday. He wouldn't bail on the city just when he takes over the Triple Threats. And even then they need to prove that he did something wrong." he explained.

The young vigilante was in the Eternal Sundown Cemetery. At his mother's grave. The funeral was only a few days ago, making it almost a week since the crime had taken place. Jason still felt horribly guilty about all of it, no matter how many different people told him it wasn't his fault, it didn't seem like it.

"Look...mom...you told me that, whoever I decided to be, you'd be proud of me...but I can't believe that." he said shaking his head. "I could have saved you...my powers...I could have stopped them, but I decided not to get involved." had said, closing he eyes at the memory.

"I can't just stand by and let people get hurt. I'm responsible for what happened to you. Big or small I am. And from now on, I'm going to use my powers to make you proud." Jason said, his hand brushing over the mask he carried with him. He hasn't used the fabric since his first day using it but he liked to carry it with him just in case.

"I love you mom. I'll see you later." he said as he turned and began to walk away. His mother had a good amount of money that was left for him, he used a bunch of it to have a small funeral. The rest he was planning on buying a new home before going back to school, which told him to take all the time he needed.

He got five yards away before he heard a familiar voice, "You passed. With flying colors." the teen turned at the voice and saw someone he hasn't seen in a while.

Madam Web. "You!" Jason exclaimed with a causing finger. He was more surprised than anything to see her, he hasn't thought of her in so long he nearly forgotten all about her. _Ok yeah you'll remember the formula for a right triangle but you forget who gave you superpowers. Nice._

"You know it's not polite to point." Julia said as she approached him.

Jason snapped out of his trance and jumped away and got into fighting stance, "What do you want?! If your wondering if I shoot webs out my but you'll be sorely disappointed like I was."

Madam Web put her head in her hands, "Good god I've made two of them." she said in horrid realization. Jason gave her a confused look, _Am I not the first one she's done this to? _

"Uh hi." Jason whirled around at the new voice, behind him stood a grown man with dark brown hair, angular face, and brown eyes with strange looking cloths. He held a case under his arm while he gave him a weak wave with the other.

"Uhhh, hi..." Jason replied awkwardly.

"Well I'll leave you two to it then." Madam Web said before seemingly vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Jason's mouth hung open at the sudden disappearance.

"Ok. I am now immensely confused." Jason said as he turned to the strange man, "I'm Jason O-rou." he stated awkwardly.

The man smiled, "Peter Parker." he replied, holding a hand out. Jason shook it, when he tried to pull away, he was shocked to find he couldn't break his grip, even with his super strength.

"How the hell?" he asked as he finally yanked if out of his grasp.

"Sorry, my hands get sticky sometimes." he said, making Jason freeze.

Jason gave him a disbelieving look, "You mean that..." he asked in shock.

Peter nodded, "Yep. The Amazing Spider-Man at your service." he said, tacking a mock bow. Ok...I like this guy! Jason thought as Peter rose. "So...I'm sorry about your mother." he said apologetically.

Jason's eyes met the grass, "Yeah...have you..."

"More times than I care to remember." Peter answered with sadness. Jason looked at him and saw something familiar, Peter carried the same look in his eyes that he did. But his eyes showed a greater pain than his, "Part of being Spider-Man is loss, it's true for everyone who has the powers." he explained, making Jason give him a confused look.

"Do I even want to know?" he asked, _My life is pretty messed up right now, a few more shocking revelations shouldn't be a big surprise. Should it?_ the teen pondered.

Peter shook his head, "No, no you do not." Jason let out a breath of relief, "But there's one thing you probably should know." he finished, his tone being serious.

"Are you my father?" Jason asked nervously.

Peter sputtered and burst out laughing, making Jason crack a smile, he apparently said something right. "No, no nothing like that. Good one though." Peter said as he composed himself. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Jason, over the past few days, you've learned one of the greatest lessons anyone could learn." The stranger told the young man.

"And that is?" he asked, all that he'd learned is that he failed to act when he could have.

"That with great power, there must always come great responsibility." Peter said wisely.

Jason let the phrase sink in, he had the power to stop Zolt but he didn't. Because at the time he didn't realize that he had a responsibility to stop him. Somehow, this realization took a imaginary weight off his shoulders. "That...that makes more sense than anything I've heard all my life." he stated.

Peter smiled at the teen's reception of his motto, "When I was your age, I was put in a similar position. And I lost someone too. But everyday, I do what I can to try and make up for my mistake, by using my powers to help people who need it. I want to ask you to do the same thing." Peter said as he handed him the briefcase.

Jason took it with some hesitance, "Peter, I feel honored and all but...I'm not sure if I'm even worthy of this." he said as he looked down at the case.

Peter saw a lot of himself in the teenager. The uncertainty of what ahead of him, it may actually be harder with no guardians to help him through the tough times ahead of him. But Peter was sure he'd do fine.

"Jason," he said, putting his hand on the younger super powered man, "With everything you've gone through. To go through that and not break, it proves that your ready." he said, making the teen smile a little. "But I'll give you some advice." he says, making the teen sigh with relief.

_Thank god_, "First. In that case are some things that will help you. Make sure you use them all." Jason nodded, "Second, you'll be facing some pretty heavy things latter in you career. So brace yourself for anything." myths teen nodded again. "And finally, don't dedicate your entire life to this. I know it sounds hard and it is, but try to find your own happiness." Peter said, hoping he'd have better luck than he had in that area.

Jason smiled, "Thanks Peter. But...why do this now? I mean the gangs have been here for a while, why not do this when they first started?" he asked, wanting to know why now of all times.

Peter's expression turned grim, "Because soon, I can't tell you when, but soon, this city will face things it never dreamed of." he explained. "Triads are just the beginning of this Jason." he said, making a sense of dread pass over the new hero.

"Well thanks, find happiness, stay strong, and oh yeah, here's a dark and mysterious warning. Anything else?" Jason asked dryly. What's next? Fallow the rainbow and find a pot of 100 Yuans? On second thought yeah I can get behind that.

Peter smirked, "Two actually. Keep up the jokes, and when you look at jobs, try the newspaper business." he said. And do what? Write for the tabloids?

Jason smiled, "I'll keep that in mind. Nice meeting you Peter." he said, raising a hand to shake. Peter smiled as he took the hand and shook it.

"Likewise." he replied.

"Well I'm glad you two got along." Jason jumped at the sound of Madam Web spearing out of thin air again. _God that's creepy!_

"A little warning, just next time you decide to do that. Warning would be appreciated." he explained. It wasn't everyday that someone popped up out of nowhere after all.

"Don't you have Spider Sense?" Peter asked. _Spider Sense? What the hell is that?_ Jason didn't realize he thought aloud until have Peter gave Madam Web a look "You didn't give him Spider Sense?! What's wrong with you! He's gonna get his but handed to him!" Peter exclaimed.

Jason put a hand on his hip as he shot Peter a skeptical look, "Hey I took on two thugs all by myself without that power. But seriously what does it do?" he questioned, wanting to know he was missing out on.

"It's a tingle in the back of your head that points you to and helps you avoid danger." Madam Web explained, "But he did fine without it for a while." she said pointing to Peter.

Jason gave her a pointed look, "Look with all these powers I'm starting to think I'm gonna turn into a migrant spider at one point...I'm not right?" he asked as this image of him turning into a big spider came to mind.

Peter and Madam Web shared a look before she turned to Jason, "You should be fine...probably." she said, making the teen start to worry.

"Hey then-" he started.

Madam Web gave him a wave, "Until next time Jason. It was a pleasure meeting you." she says as the two disappeared in a cloud if smoke, leaving the teen with the briefcase that Peter had given him.

"I guess I should have started with that one." Jason said as he made his way out of the cemetery.

…

Jason entered the newly squired apartment with his new landlord, Kai Le-Ming, a Oder woman who looked like she could handle herself against a few gang members herself with her large stature and hands big enough to throttle someone, "Rent is 180.00 Yuans a month. And double if your late on it for the next month." she said, no room for compromise in her voice.

Jason nodded, "Ok. Anything else?" as he looked around the small apartment with his backpack and briefcase. He couldn't recover anything from the remains of his apartment, save for a few photos of him and his mom which he was grateful to have.

"Yeah, no partying, loud noises, or...other actives that make a loud noise." she said as the teen walked around the small abode. It was simple, a three roomed apartment, one a bathroom, with a simple a bed, and third was suitable for a living quarters as well as a small kitchen. In the corner near the door was a marble countertop with cupboards on the wall.

"I can handle that. Can I move in today?" he asked. He did have all his belongings on his person. I'm gonna spend a lot of money on cloths and crap...Peter mentioned something about newspaper right?

The woman shrugged, "Sure thing." she said as she exited the apartment. When the door closed, Jason entered the bedroom and tossed the backpack at the foot of the bed. Placing the briefcase I the bed, Jason felt a twinge of excitement go through him, he hadn't yet seen what was inside and was curious to what it contained.

Clicking open the sides of it, he opened it. His eyes widened and mouth hung open slightly.

On either side of the case where wrist like devices with canisters surrounding the wrist parts with fold out buttons. A small sticky note on them read 'web shooters, formula on back'. Picking up the note, he expected some complicated chemical formula but was surprised. _Oh...I thought if be something other than that for the main ingredient. I can buy this at the drug store. _he thought with surprise, he could easily make the web formula. What caught his eye was below the web shooters.

The suit.

The first thing he saw was the mask it was red in color with lines running evenly over the mask to the center, near the center where the eyes, they dipped to the back of the head and came to a point near the top.

They where pitch black with reflective lens.

Pulling the mask out of the case, he saw it went down to his upper neck. The suit was next, it was mostly back like the eyes of the mask, the upper front of the suit had the same patter as the mask, but a large spider interrupted the pattern which was black as well, the tip lower body dissipate red into the black suit.

The legs dissipated into the darkness if the suit as it traveled up the triangular pattern. The uppermost ones went over the shoulders with the pattern on both sides and met on the back. A larger red spider was on the pitch black back, the top two of the right legs connected to the red pattern.

The gloves had a silver braces on each one that had a red indent near the end close to the hand. The hands themselves had black horizontal lines go across the red palms. The boots where black as well with red bottoms and on the lower side of them.

"Holy crap." Jason muttered.

…

"This is friggin' awesome!" Jason shouted as he swung through the air of his made shift training grounds. The warehouse that he had used for training was the perfect place to test our these web shooters.

_Thwip_!

And they worked fine. Shooting another web line to the ceiling, he swung across the air and did a backflip before shooting another web line from his left hand. "Whhooooohooo!" the hero yelled as he launched into air and attached to the ceiling. "Forget running and jumping, this is the way to get around." he sated while attaching a web to the ceiling and slowly descending while upside down with his feet on the web line.

...

Jason gently kicked the door closed behind him as he entered his new home, take out in his hands. "Mmmm, dumplings. Just like mom bought them." he said as he entered his bedroom and jumped on the bed. As he opened the bag of food, he reached under the bed and shot a web from his web shooter at the case and yanked it to his hand.

"Tonight's the real test drive. So it's probably a good idea not to eat my messy food with my costume." the young hero surmised as he ate a dumpling.

…

Jason slipped into the suit pretty easily, it was tight but comfortable at the same time. _Better than spandex at least_. he thought as he took the mask out of his case and looked at it for a moment. Her closed his eyes and put the mask on. When he opened his eyes, the lens of the mask didn't alter his vision at all thankfully.

Opening his window, Jason climbed up the side of the building until he was on the ledge, the lights of the city spreading for miles on end. "Ok. Here goes...well everything really." the costumed teen said to himself. He backed up a few feet, "Look out Republic City." he charged forward and jumped off the roof at the last minute.

"Here comes Spider-Man!"

**AN: That's a good place to leave off. So as some of you may have guessed, the suit Jason has on is the Superior Spider-Man suit. Now even if you didn't like the storyline, you gotta admit it was a kick ass suit. And next chapter you'll see something that Pete added for the new hero.**

**I hope I'm doing a good enough job at this. I'd really love it if you would leave a review , but if you don't want to fine, thanks for reading and I'll update soon!**

**Until then, keep reading true believers!**


	4. Chapter 4

Road rage

As soon as Jason's feet left the rooftop, he shot a web line at the nearest building. The new Spider-Man felt his blood rush as he swung through the air. When he leapt off the web, he fired another one, _This is Amazing! Who needs cars when you can swing around like this?_ Jason thought as he shot a web at another building a swung around the corner.

Deciding to go off the the roads so to speak, the web head attached a line to one of the shorter building and used the momentum to launch himself high into the air. Firing a web at a water tower, he pulled the line towards him, yanking him towards it and landing on the side of the water container.

"Ok, so where do I start?" He asked himself as he jumped off the small tower and begun swinging. As the young hero swung overhead, people below pointed up in awe of what they saw, it wasn't every day that someone swung over their heads while using webs. The new vigilante rounded the corner of a intersection just as a man snatched a woman's purse below.

"Stop him! Stop that man! He stole my purse!" she yelled in hope of someone coming to her aid. Jason smirked under his mask, _Well, that was easier than I thought_. he inwardly stated as he dropped lower to the ground and chased after him. The spider powered teen swung ahead of the thief and shot a web line at a street post to slow himself and land right I front if the guy.

The man halted to a stop in front of the masked man, "I don't suppose I can talk you into giving that purse back to the nice lady?" the teen supplied weakly before the man tried to punch him. Jason grasped his arm before it hit, "Really! Look, I'm trying to be nice here but I'm really starting to feel unappreciated right now." he said as he threw the guy into the air. Jason fired a web at the post that he sung in from and then at the thief leg.

"H-h-hey! Get me down!" he said as he struggled to break free of the web. Jason snatched the purse from the man as a crowd began together around the pair.

"Well I really don't think that's a good idea since last time you where upright you tried to hit me." Jason said as he turned to the crowd. "This belong to someone here?" he asked the crowd. A moment passed before a woman in the front of the crowd raised her hand the masked teen tossed her the bag, "There you go ma'am. And if someone could call the police on this guy, much appreciated." he said as he fired a web to the nearby building, much to everyone's amazement, and sung into the air.

_Ok, that felt good. Really good_. the teen thought as he swung over buildings and away from the scene and towards the bay. _Where to now? Downtown is triad territory, but there's still some places I haven't been to, I mean for all I know there's a crime happening at Air Temple Island right now. _he thought as he fired another web.

But this tins there was no building, making the teen's eyes widen under his mask, "What happened to all the skyscrapers?!" the teen thought frantically as he flew through the air with nothing to hook on to. Jason saw the roof of a waterfront building coming up fast. "Crap. This us gonna-"

_Wham! _

The teen crashed I to the roof of the building. "-hurt...ouch." the teen said as he rose up and made sure nothing was broken. "Ok, note to self. Watch where your going when you swing Spidy." he said as he jumped towards the tall buildings and started swinging.

…

The red and black colored vigilante swung through the buildings of the Diamond Borough. This place was known for all the expensive jewelers, restaurants, and clothing stores, so he figured that this would be the perfect place to look for crime. Deciding to take a break, the young hero fired a web line to a tall building and launched himself to the top of it.

The teen sat down on the ledge and at reached out his arms and legs. Web swinging is a quick way to her around town but it's also something that the body needs to get used to. Doing the tricks in the air actually helps stretch out the muscles, _Ok, so do I just sit here and wait for something bad to happen or what? _Jason questioned.

He was lucky to hear the sounds of police sirens, "Thank you universe." Jason said aloud as he jumped off the building and fell towards the pavement before firing a web at a building, using a that momentum to launch himself high into the air and get a look down at the streets. He saw the red and blue lights flashing down a street.

Shooting a web at another building, Jason swung around the side of a building over another and joined the chase. The police car was chasing three scarlet colored Satomoblies, Jason swung ahead of the cop car and shot a web at the first car and pulled himself onto the roof.

"Did you hear that ?" One of the men inside asked. The driver shrugged, he figured it was probably a thing of earth that the cops launched at them.

He didn't expect a upside down costumed man to look at him through the windshield. "Look I think you may be speeding sir. Could you pull over so I could-" the man swerved all over the road in a attempt to dislodge the man, "Yeah...that's not gonna work." the teen said as he climbed onto the hood of the car and ripped a hole in it, exposing the engine.

"Ok, either you pull over or I mess up your very nice and expensive car. How's that?" he asked. The thugs looked at one another before the driver began to slow to a halt, "Wow, you care more about your car than endangering pedestrians? You know what? Just for that I'm doing this!" the teen spoke as he shot webbing into the engine compartment.

Jason jumped off the car onto the wall of a building as the car crashed into it. The occupants of the car cried out for their car while the vigilante shot another webline down the street, getting back in the pursuit of the other two cars. The teen quickly closed in on the next car, as he neared his target, he raised his hand and pressed down on the trigger of the web shooter.

_Pfft!_

_Oh you gotta be kidding me!_ Jason thought unbelievingly. He tried the other web shooter and it fired a web at the hood of the car, Jason clasped both his hands on the webs that he had. The webs where strong but not unbreakable, Jason had a idea on how to stop the car. _This is gonna hurt. _

Letting go of the one that was attached to the building, the teen dropped to the street and clasped his other hand on the web. _Yeah this is definitely going to hurt._ The teen thought as he stuck to the ground with his powers. When the web was stretched as far back as it oils go, Jason pulled back on the web with all his might.

_Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!_

The sudden yank made the front wheels if the car lift from the ground and the car lose control. Jason let go as the side of it ran into a street lamp. Ok...that hurt. The teen thought as he rubbed his sore muscles, "Freeze!" The teen turned to see the police car at a stop and the two police officers with large bricks of earth, ready to launch.

"Oh come on! I stopped the bad guys." he said pointing to the car as one of the passengers pulled himself out the at window and fell to the ground in a daze. "Well most of them. I'm batting 2 for 3 right now so-" he started.

The officers launched their rocks at the costumed man. One aiming for his chest, the other his head, the teen jumped into a split and ducks his head as the rocks missed, "Hey I just made a car crash with my bare hands! And your playing dodgeball with mini boulders with me! Not cool." he said as he ran to the building wall and jumped up to it, shocking the cops below.

Jason ran across the rooftops towards his apartment, _No way I'm catching that car without my webs_. he thought as he leapt over another alleyway, "Give me all your Yuans, and I won't cut you into pieces." Of course. Why not? I'm already probably not going to get home until sunrise. he thought dryly. His apartment was in Dragon Flats like his old home, but Diamond Borough is a few miles away by car.

Looking down into the alleyway, Jason saw a small figure holding up a wealthy looking man with a very large blade in his hand. Jason vaulted over ledge and down to the robber as he was about to get the man's wallet. Hitting the ground , the two turned to the masked man, he had a better look the figure, he was actually a bit taller than Jason, but what startled him was that he was almost the same age as him, if not a bit older.

He had messy blond hair that was in a crew cut, his face had nothing that really stood out except for the burn on his neck that was shaped like a hand. But what struck the teen as strange was that he looked so familiar, but he couldn't place it.

The other teen was quick to react and grabbed the man and held the blade up to his throat, "You try anything and I'll...I'll cut him!"he stated boldly but with nervousness in his voice. The man had a terrified look in his eyes, _I can't win this. Not like this, I gotta talk him down...he's doomed._

The masked teen raised his hands, "Ok, ok. I'm not doing anything." he said, trying to calm the young criminal. He began to back up towards the end of the alley, Jason could easily catch him on foot if he took off but he didn't want him to accidentally hurt the guy he was holding as a hostage. "Look you don't need to do this. Just let him go, this will all be a lot easier if you just let him go." he said trying to calm the teen.

"Your just a nut job in spandex! Your not the police so you got nothing!" he shouted, making his hostage wince. _Trust me, this ain't spandex dude_. Jason pushed those thoughts aside as a familiar red car pulled up at the end of the alley, the same one that he was about to go after before he ran out of web fluid.

Before Jason could act, the hostage taker there his shield towards the masked teen and hopped into the car. Jason jumped over the man as the car sped away, _Crap._ he thought as he returned to the man, "You ok?" he asked.

The man grasped his costume, "Y-Y-You saved me! T-thank you!" he said as he fully stood and embraced the teen. Jason awkwardly patted his back, not sure exactly what to do. Ok...this is weird...I really hope this doesn't happen often.

"No problem man. Look, get to a phone and tell the police what happened, they'll get you all set." he said as he pried the guy's hands off of him. He had a vice grip on the costume, after finally getting the guy to stop grabbing him for dear life. Hopping up to the wall, he began to crawl away.

"W-wait! Who are you?" The man asked.

The teen smirked under his mask as he perched himself on the building, facing the man below, "My name's Spider-Man." he said before crawling back up to the rooftop and continuing on his way to his apartment.

…

Jason was on his bed sleeping like a log. The night's events brought both excitement and exhaustion, it still gnawed at him that he couldn't catch the one guy's assailant, his only hope was to patrol tonight and try and find him. But right now he just wanted to sleep, and he was enjoying every minute if it on his uncovered mattress.

The alarm clock rang out with a deafening ring, Jason had to resist the urge to crush the clock with his super strength. The teen exited bed and walked over to the closest, Jason didn't want his landlord doing a unscheduled inspection and finding his costume so he put the case for it on the uppermost shelf of the closest.

He also blew through a lot of money the day before, filling the closest with various cloths, and getting the right ingredients to make web formula along with the right equipment. _I gotta get a job and quick if I want to pay my rent this month...Peter said something about the newspaper...I'll check it out after school today. _the teen thought as he put his costume on.

Jason his the web creation equipment in a small box in the closet as well, he also decided to to make a load of extra web carriages. Enough so that he could swung all day and go through not half if his supply. _It wasn't easy though, I had to hit like twelve different stores in order to get this amount._ Jason thought as he loaded the web canisters on his belt and web shooters.

Putting his clothes in his school bag, he opened the window and shot a web to a building and swing towards school. _Well back to the concrete jungle right?_

…

Jason brushed his hat hair aside until he looked presentable enough for school. Which meant that he did it for only a few seconds before he thought he looked good enough for a day of school. He had his costume tucked neatly under his clothes, his gloves and mask tucked neatly away in the inner pockets of his dark blue hoodie. He was able to wear his regular shoes over the costume's, which was surprisingly comfortable.

The teen entered the school, and hurried on his way to first period, Writing. He and Xang still had a few days until the paper was due, Right, I still got that hanging over my head. the young hero thought as he entered his first period class. Sitting at his seat, he thought back to the night prior to that car that got away, That guy was so young. And that burn on his neck, it looked like a handprint. Jason thought as the bell rang.

As the students filled their seats, the teacher, Mis. Obi, took her position behind her desk. "All right everyone, settle down. Get your books out and turn to page 127. Today we're each reading a story from one of the 100 year war witnesses." she said as she wrote the page number on the board.

The students took their books out and opened them to the pages. Jason placed his book on his desk and turned to the page and let out a sigh, _I'm gonna be exhausted by the end of the day if this is how the rest of the day will go._ the teen thought as he begun to read about the battle of the Day of Black Sun.

…

Jason was about halfway through the story when he felt his eyes begin to get heavy, he was still a bit tired from the night before and reading line after line after line of text wasn't doing him any favors, _Oh god it's harder to do this than when I wasn't working at night_. he thought as he felt himself begin to tire.

"Is everyone close to finished?" The teacher asked, the class showed some form of agreement, "Good, now I want you all to answer the questions on page 132. They're due by the end of the period. You all get it done, and you all get more time to talk with your friends." she said as she wrote the questions on the blackboard for reference.

Jason rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, it was going to be a long day. After skimming over the rest of his story and answering the questions, he was about to rest his head on his desk when something make him froze. A few seats down from him at the end of the row was a mess of blonde hair, he was talking to another student behind him with his unfinished paper still out.

But the handprint of a burned pink flesh on his neck was what caught his eye.

_Son of a bi- _"Kanei." Mrs. Obi called, the the teen that the vigilante was watching tuned in his seat, "Is your paper finished yet?" she asked, knowing the answer already. Kanei was one of those kids that where forced to attend school by his parents.

He looked down at the paper and gave a nonchalant shrug, "I thought so. Get to work and then you can chat." the educator said before retuning to grading paperwork.

_He goes to my school...irony must love my life._ Jason thought as he walked over the desk and handed his paper to the teacher.

Mis. Obi gave him a sorrowful look, all the staff had received word of what happened to the poor teen's mother. "Thank you Mr. O-rou. You have the rest of the period to do as you please." she said, getting a nod from the teen.

Jason sat down at his desk, pretending to get some rest while observing Kanei. _So much for resting up._

…

It was Jason's last period of the day, Science. And Jason was enjoying it. He wasn't a genius but he was gifted when it came to formulas and scientific interests. Well enough to be able to construct a web formula that's stronger than steel and has a high tensile strength.

_The bell suddenly rang out, signaling the end of the day._ _First off, thank god. Second, perfect, now I can get to Kanei._ The teen thought as he exited the class with the other students, not expecting Xang to join him at his side. "Hey..." he said simply.

Jason needed to get to Kanei...but it could wait, "Hey...your not here to kill me are you?" he asked jokingly. He and Xang's bonding moment from last week came to mind, they both lost people dear to them, in a way it made them similar.

Xang shrugged, "Nah. I was actually wondering if..." Jason gave him a look as he sighed, "There's a Pro Bending match at the stadium this weekend, me and few friends got tickets and we got a extra one. So if you wanna come along...well we got a ticket." he explained.

The teen thought this over for a minute, odds are that while he's sitting there at a match, someone, somewhere in the city will be in trouble. "I may not be able to. Sorry Xang." he said.

The jock shrugged, "Hey, just means I can scalp 'em. Who knows, maybe next time." he said with a shrug as they exited the school.

Jason couldn't hell but smile, "Yeah...sure." he said, making the jock smirk as he went to join his teammates in the parking lot. Jason backtracked to a corner in the school before hopping up to the side of it and climbing on the roof, searching the crowd while he changed into his costume.

_Kanei was with the same guys from that chase last night. If I get him when he's alone, I can sweat him for info. I won't hurt him of course, but I'll just make it so that he has to tell me. _Jason surmised as he stuffed his clothes into his bag. Pulling his mask on over his face, he scanned the crowd for his suspect.

After most of the student body had left the school, the young hero spotted a mess of dirty blond hair heading towards the parking lot. Jason fallowed him by the ledge of the vilifying and watched as a car that looked like the same car from last night. Jumping onto the light post, he landed on top of it hands first and propelled himself forward as the car took off down the street.

The masked vigilante shot a webline to the side if a building as he fallowed the car. _That's right, lead me to the nest, better yet to the leader so I can shut you guys down right away, _the new Spider-Man thought as he pulled down on a web while rounding the corner of a intersection after the car. The car pulled over to the side of the road as Jason landed on the side of a wall overlooking the car.

Kanei stepped out of the car and begun his walk down the street, the car took off down the street. The masked hero trailed the teen along the side of the building, just as he was about to turn the corner of the street, Jason shot two web lines at his back had pulled him up to where he was. When he was close enough, Jason grabbed him and pulled h up the side of the building, "Holy hell! Let me go let me go let me go!" Kanei demanded as saw the ground get further away.

"Well what you should be saying is 'put me down' since if I let you down, you'll probably break a few bones." Jason said as he put the teen against the building before webbing him to the wall. "He's what's gonna happen, your gonna tell me whatever I ask. And if you don't, I'll drop you off at the nearest precinct." he said as he sat against the wall while the other teen struggled to break free.

The teen's face broke out in a smirk, "And what will they arrest me for?" he asked cockily, thinking that he was immune to everything.

The masked man rubbed his chin, "Alright, what about the guy that you where getting to know last night? You know, the guy who you had as a hostage?" he supplied, making the teen's smirk disappear. He had him now.

The teen looked down towards the ground, "You don't understand. These are the Agni Kai. They find out that you turn on them, they find you, your family, and..." he trailed off. Jason let out a sigh, he knew what he was talking about.

"Look. I'm not the police. I'll just find the guys and put a stop to them. No need to bring up where I got the info from, you'll be safe." Jason said through the mask, but Kanei still didn't look all that convinced about the masked teen's claims.

"Look, guys like these. They're hard core. You see what they did to my neck?" He asked, tilting his head so that the inflamed flesh could be early seen.

"Yeah, what about it? Birthmark?" Jason asked, genuinely curious.

Kanei shook his head, "Initiation. They get a fire bender and if you don't cry, your in." he said with pride. God and I thought collage traditions were bad, Jason thought.

"Look, if you tell the police what you know, they'll take it into consideration. You can walk away from this, get protection from them, and get a shot at a normal life. Trust me, it's better than dealing with this on the day to day." the young hero stated. The new Agni Kai member thought this over for a minute before speaking.

"Ok...I'll tell you everything." Kanei said decisively.

…

Jason swung through the buildings of the Diamond Borough. Tooting a weine to one of the skyscrapers and swinging high I to the air before letting go and being propelled forward by his momentum though the air before landing on the side of another and crawling down tip wards the street, his backpack sticking to his back.

Kanei told him everything, everything that he knew at least. The whole setup was almost routine, first they deal the most expensive cars they can get their hands on, then they drop off purse and wallet snatchers throughout the borough. After a few hours, they then speed around and try and locate the gang members, running over anything or anyone on their way.

_It's almost scary how systematic they've become at this. I mean these guys are street thugs, aren't they supposed to be doing dumb stuff like guarding doors? _Jason wondered as he jumped off the building and onto a moving trolly car.

When the night was over, they split everything up at a chop shop in the middle of the borough. That's where Spider-Man was heading now. After riding the trolly for a few blocks , he shot a webline at the side of a building and leapt off, catching the attention of the people below him.

_Their faces never get old_. he thought as he rounded the corner of a building.

As he swung over rooftops, he saw his target. The chop shop looked like any normal mechanic, except for the shady men standing guard out front, _Hey whatta ya know I was right. Thugs do preform the stupid crap after all_. the masked man thought as he swung over the roof of the building. The skylight was his best bet in, silently opening the glass window, he crawled in onto the ceiling and looked below as the gathered triad members.

Four of them where working on stripping down a car, three of them were in a group playing pi-sho with one another, and the last four where at a table sorting out various prices of jewelry and cash.

There where eleven men in total, plus the four outside guarding the exits. Well, doing this quietly is out so time to go in loud and somewhat proud of myself. The teen jumped down from the ceiling and landed right on the pi-sho table. "Ta-Da!" he shouted as the men jumped away from the masked man.

One of the men was quick to react and sparked a fire in his hand. Jason leapt over the flames towards the firebender as the flames roasted the tabletop. A single kick to the face sent the man crashing to the ground. "Get the freak!" one of the men shout rev as they rushed him.

The vigilante crossed his arms and shot to webs at the nearest triads. The webs entangled their body's and rendered them immobile, "Sorry, gotta say it, Stick around...ok yeah that was stupid." Jason said as he doges a blade from another man, he delivered a jab to the gut and grasped him by his shirt and tossed him into the group of men that where working on the car.

Two of them where knocked to the floor by the weight of the single man. Before Jason could act, one of the men came up from behind and bashed a chair on him, making him fall to the floor. Before the men could get ontop of him, he used his hands to spring himself into the air.

It left him open for a fireball to be shot at him. Thinking fast, Spider-Man shot a web to a wall and pulled himself out of the way of the fire. "What the hell are you waiting for fire at him!" one shouted as the men from outside joined the fight.

_Nine men left. Ok, maybe I'm over my head_. Jason thought as he rubbed the back of his head were a bruise was forming. Jason's jumped out of the way as another fire blast was shot at him, the masked teen shot a web to the ceiling and swung towards the group of men and delivered a mid-air kick to one.

The teen landed in the center of men, not expecting them to grab his arms and hold him back while two men rushed him up front. _Oh come on_! As the men closed in, Jason crouched and raised his feet under the men's jaws, breaking them. _At least have some originality_. the teen thought as he shot his webs into the men's eyes behind him.

"Oh sprits I'm blind!" One of them shouted as Spider-Man webbed them both on the ground.

"Don't worry, it comes out with dish soap and peanut butter." he said jokingly. He knew that the webs only last two, three hours tops. He knew this because when he made a hammock from his webs he fell to the ground after a three hour nap.

The last for men where wary of the masked teen, he's taken down so many of their men so far and they barely cut into the black and red costume if his. "You guys are really bad at this. I'm saying that as a fact. It's August 23rd and you guys are bad at this." Jason said as he shot webs at two of the men's feet and pulled them towards him and stuck them to the ground.

The remaining two firebenders swiped a blaze at him, the masked hero didn't have any room to doge it. Jason looked around frantically, he spotted the car they where dismantling and jumped behind it for cover as the fire swept over the room. "Did we get him?" one of the men asked.

Jason jumped over the car and fired two weblines at the walls beside the men. They where close enough that when Spider-Man pulled in the webs and drew himself in, he rammed his feet into the men's gullets.

The masked vigilante stood on both of them, "So. Wanna tell me who's in change of this now, or after the police show up?" he asked the two.

One of them fell unconscious, the other leered at the masked man, "Go to hell freak." he said, spitting on the costume. The dark black eyes looked down to the spot where the saliva landed.

"I just got this suit."

…

"Why'd you call me again?" Detective Wei asked. He had been called off from his search for Zolt from central, what bugged him is that they haven't told him why. Officer Xi, the first officer on the scene, walked with him from his car towards the mechanic's shop.

"Well you where the leading officer on the Dragon Yang arrest last week right?" he asked as the gate was opened by one of the officers. Wei nodded, "And you obviously saw the way that he was left in by our unknown member." he said. Wei nodded again as they approached the garage, "Well we thought of you when we found this." he pulled up the garage door with earth bending.

Wei's eyes widened at the scene before him. There where men on the ground with webs, actual spider webs, sticking them to the ground, most of them where unconscious. The total amount was fourteen men, "One guy, did all this?" he asked as he went to a nearby downed man who had yet to wake up, "And no one died?" he asked the officer.

The man nodded, "Worst is a few broken bones on these guys, but that's not the best part." he said as he kneeled beside the man Wei was expecting and pulled his shirt collar down, exposing the burn on his neck. "Agni Kai members." he explained.

Wei looked at the dismantled vehicle, "Son of a bitch! These guys are those morons who do the organized thefts all over Diamond." he said in realization. "So where's all the loot?" he asked. These guys must have valuables here all hours of the day. Wei thought.

Officer Xi pointed to the table near the exit, "Found all them on this table on the way station. See if we can't find all the owners." he explained as they moved to some officers trying to remove a man from the webbing. The poor guy had it almost all over him and was awake with his mouth covered.

Wei stuck his gloved finger in the webbing, "What...what the hell is this exactly?" Wei asked Ashe tried to draw his hand away from the substance but to no avail. He grasped his wrist and gave a strong pull with all his might, he pulled his hand out of the glove.

"We got no idea. But it's stronger than steel." Xi said in amazement of the substance.

…

"What the hell do you mean it disintegrated?" Lin asked the detective. Wei had reported to the chief while in a meeting with councilman Tenzion and Tarrlock. Word had spread through the small government of what happened, they had managed to keep it out of the paper and news broadcasts on the radio.

"About a hour or so after I left they called and said that the...webbing...had turned into a powdery substance." Wei explained while keeping himself looking confident. On the inside he was scared shitless, rumor had it that she completely trashed Air Temple Island for no reason a few years back. So no one got on her bad side.

"Webbing? Like a spider?" Councilman Tenzin asked curiously. When he first heard about what happened to Dragon Yang he thought it was just a warning from another triad, but moving from wires to actual webbing is a different story.

Wei nodded, "Yes sir. We originally had reason to believe that this was a group effort...however..." he trailed off. He had gotten statements from the arrested Agni Kai members, but what they said was hard to believe, but with the evidence they had, it was more than circumstance.

"But?" Tarrlock asked.

Wei sighed, "The criminals that we apprehended said that it was one guy." he said, getting skeptical looks from the three.

"One man did all this?" Tarrlock asked skeptically. The idea itself sounded idiotic, these men where killers, how could one person do all this?

Wei boy his lip, "The men claimed he could stick to walls, take our men with a single blow...and create webs from his wrists." he says, feeling smaller and smaller from each state by that he spoke.

Lin was about to say something when the door to her office flew open, "Chief! You gotta come see this!" Officer Xi exclaimed as he led the four to the front of the building. When the Chief, detective, and councilmen exited the front door they froze.

Hanging in the doorway by a webline was ow of the members if the Agni Kai, "Get me down from here! He's a freak! He's a freak!" he yelled as he struggled to get free.

Tenzin's mouth hung open in shock, "How on earth?" he asked as they moved further away from the station to get a better look.

"Holy hell look!" All the heads in the area looked up.

Jason couldn't help but smile under his mask as all faces in the ground turned to him. He stuck the guy upside down under a bridge until he told him the name if who was in charge of the triad. Deciding to stop being unknown, he decided to send a message to the Triads,

_Hanging their leader if the snatching operation seems like a good place to start. _The teen thought as five figures exited the building and looked up at his handiwork before noticing him. He was hanging upside down in front of Toph Bei-Fong's statue from a web line.

He recognized Detective Wei as one of the people who exited the building with his face in shock at the sight if him. Jason gave a wave to them before firing a webline at the wallow the police station and swinging away towards his home.

Tarrlock looked at the detective, "What did they say his name was?" he asked, hoping that they could find out about him before going after him.

Wei kept his gaze on the figure as he swung building to building, "Last night one guy came in saying a costumed man saved him from a mugging from the perps we brought in. The perp turned himself in and told us a costumed guy grabbed him and made him tell h everything." he said, getting the other's attention.

"The guy ID'd the kid as the one who tried to rob him. When I asked who saved him , he said his name was-"

…

_"Spider-Man, a masked vigilante was seen dropping a known Triad member off at the Central Police Station. Witnesses claim that he 'expelled webs from his hands and swung off on them into the city' after dropping the gang member off. Chief Lin Bei-Fong has yet to-"_ Ryuu shut off the radio. The leader of the Agni Kai was not happy, the snatch ring was one of his biggest income makers. And this single man took it all down in one day.

The man sat in his office of the Blue Dragon. A well known hotel in the industrial district of Republic City, Ryuu Fugi was a slender man with red hair slicked back, a dark red scarlet suit and matching pants, and Amber eyes on a angular face said he was dangerous. _This...Spider-Man. He may be a threat if he continues on like he does, I better not take any chances._

He grabbed the phone and dialed out to a known associate, "Hey, it's me. You hear the news?"

_"Listening to it now. Is this serious?" _the voice on the other end asked.

Ryuu nodded, "I think he may be. I want them." he said, knowing full well what it entailed.

_"Whoa, wait. The guys you want are professionals. And they're not the most cheap guys, are you sure-" _

"Yes I'm sure. No discussion about this, send me the Enforcers." Ryuu said before hanging up.

**AN: And another one bites the dust. And Jason learns that with all those powers comes all sorts of problems. **

**Next time, Spider-Man vs. the Enforcers!**

**Leave a review if you want and thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

The Enforcers and job hunting

The whole city was abuzz with news of Spider-Man. Every newspaper with a story, picture, or anything had been sold out. And unfortunately none of the profits where seen by hero himself.

_Peter was right, newspaper is where it's at. _Jason thought as he walked home from school, it had been about three days since the whole chop shop affair and things had been a bit hectic for the teen since.

Firstly, the police had put out a warrant for his arrest, witch had been a very unpleasant surprise for Jason one morning when he picked up the paper. Second, his rent was almost due, and third, he had no way to pay for his rent without dipping into his mother'a savings. Jason didn't feel comfortable using that money, his mother earned it, not him. And he liked the idea of a safety net to fall onto of things got bad.

_Well the only things you can do in the paper business is shoot photos, write articles, and draw Sunday cartoons...well I can't draw, and I can't take a photo of myself. Maybe I can try the reporter...it would help me as Spider-Man to track down gang activities._ Jason thought as he entered a deserted alleyway. As he changed into his costume, he saw the remains of a newspaper in the trash.

The teen grabbed the paper and saw the answer to his prayer, "Hmmm, the Daily Marvel. Now hiring...they aren't just gonna hand me the job. I gotta give them something." Jason said aloud as he put his mask on over his head. "I think I may have a idea how to do that." he said as shot two weblines into the air and pulled them back and flew into the air.

…

Jason stood outside the skyscraper in his best clothes that he owned, dress pants, blue dress shirt and black tie. His costume hidden underneath of course, entering the building, Jason made his way towards the receptionist's desk, trying to act as confident as he could. When he got to the female receptionist, she greeted him warmly, "Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

Jason loosed his tie a little, "I'm um...here to apply for the job opening." the teen stated, reviving a surprised look from the woman.

"Oh! Your the one who called. I'll be honest I expected someone older." she explained. She then pointed to the elevator, "Top floor. Look for Whitney Chang." Jason felt a slight chill go through at the last name but brushed it off, Chang was a fairly common last name, shot in the dark she was related to Dragon.

Jason nodded and thanked her before entering the box and pressed the highest number on the panel. _Tall building. Could probably find someplace to crawl into instead of going in through the front door. _The elevator door opened, as Jason walked out he was nearly run over by a mail cart. "Outta the way kid!" the man called as he ran the cart by.

The whole room was in a apparent frenzy, people typed away on their typewriters as fast as their fingers could manage. People where carrying stacks of papers bigger than Jason's book ah that he carried with him. _Holy crap_. was the only thing Jason could think of.

"Jason O-rou?" the teen turned to a young woman in her twenties. She had black hair tied up into a bun with a few hairs going over her left eye, she had blue eyes and red lipstick. She had a white dress shirt under a light blue sweater, black skirt and matching leather jacket.

Jason nodded, "That's me. Miss. Chang?" the teen guested.

She nodded, "Yep. You the one here for the job?" he nodded, she smirked, "Perfect. Your young, you'll appeal to young readers. So what's this story you already got?" she asked as she walked towards her desk, the teen in tow behind her. _So wait I got the job? Just like that? Cool!_

"Well first, I'm only sixteen. Second, what makes you think I'll appeal to young readers? And third, yea, I got something you may be interested in." Jason replied as Whitney sat at her desk, Jason sitting in the pull up chair in front of it.

She smirked at the young man, "Your a smart ass too. That's good. And A: your still a kid if your sixteen. B: Young writers, young readers. C: what's your big story? And D: they usually have a jacket to go with that look." she said, listing off her reasons with one hand and pointing to his outfit with the other.

_Sassy. I like her! _Jason thought as he got comfortable in his seat. "Well I'll give you a hint, he's big in the paper, no one has a decent photo of him. Oh yea, he can also shoot webs out of his wrists." he said, making Whitney's eyes widen. Spider-Man was the hottest topic of the city since he showed up on the radar last week, no one knew anything about him and it just made him all the more interesting.

"Ok O-rou. You got my attention. Now spill." she said, leaning on her desk towards the teen. "Spider-Man is big news, you got anything on him, it'll give us a edge with the Four Nations News." she explained. _God it's like sports teams isn't it? _Jason thought.

"Wait, what's stopping you from just publishing it under your name?" The teen questioned, he needed the money to keep his apartment. "No offense meant. I'm just in a tight spot right now and...well this economy...plus school." he added. His mother pressed him to get a education, he didn't intend to stop either.

Whitney smirked, "Don't worry about that. See if you make up any facts before the police release them then it's on your head. Not mine." she explained. _Oh I get it, risk the newbie reputation. But then again I guess that's what you sign up for._ the vigilante surmised.

"Alright Miss. Chang. Here's what happened yesterday." Jason started as he gave his slightly altered version of the story.

…(Flashback)…

Jason swing into the downtown district, flying up high into the air and shooting a webline at a building and swinging alongside it. "Ok Republic City, let me have it!" he yelled out as he went twirled in the air before attaching his web to another building.

Circling around the side of a building, he flew over rooftops and he wanted to work at the news, he had to make the news.

…

_Real slow news day_. Jason thought as he stuck to the side of a building with his chin in his hands. He had been swinging around for about a hour and with nothing to show for it. _Maybe they know I'm on a school schedule. Do all their crimes during work hours like honest joes...nah._ he thought as he jumped off before swinging over the lower buildings.

Jason decided to reload his web shooters just in case he was low, but accidentally pressed the red spot on his gauntlets. _"Charlie 176 this is central, we just got a call for a possible disturbance at Cooper street. Apartment 23, blue building. Over." _

_What the hell?! _Jason thought with surprise. _"This is Charlie 176, we'll take it. Over."_ The gauntlet spoke back. _It's...a police scanner! This is gonna be too easy now._ Jason thought as he pressed the red spot again. _"This is central, we got a report of vandalism at the industrial yard, closet unit, please identify." _

With that, Jason leapt off the building and shot a webline at the closest building.

…

The costumed hero landed on the roof of the where house where the disturbance was reported. "Ok...I'm here universe! Any reason why the bad guys aren't?" the masked teen asked to no one in particular before a shard of ice stuck itself in his right shoulder! "Gahhh! Joking!" he called out as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

The wounded teen looked over his shoulder, there stood a man with a bowler's cap in a red and yellow stripped shirt and pants with about six seal skin pouches under his vest. His face showed him smirking cockily with his skinny mustache. "Time for joking is over kid." he said as he strutted over to Spider-Man.

Jason rose, still clutching his shoulder, "Ok, I'll ask, who are you?" he asked, pulling the ice shard out of his shoulder and tossing it as the man rose his hand and drew the water back into one of his pouches.

The man grinned and tipped his hat forward, "Name's Icepick. Heard a lot about you from my boss Spider-Man." he said as he put his hands in his pockets. As Jason was about to go on the offensive, he felt himself feel nauseated, he felt his body lurch forward, "Oh you must be feeling the special effect of my little brew."

Jason was on his knees now, "W- what?" he asked. His vision was starting to blur, the colors on Icepick's shirt started to melt together. _Drugs...damnit_.

"Yep. Ya see, I made this little poison that paralyzes whoever gets cut with it. And our boss said that he wanted some suffering on your end." he explained as he kicked the masked teen in the chest, Jason landed close to the ledge of the building.

"Too bad the other boys couldn't get a shot at ya. Kinda feel like I cheated." he explained as he kneeled down next to the injured hero. _Boys? As in more than one of them? Great._

"What's your guys names?" the vigilante asked.

The man grinned, "Well they call us the Enforcers. Personally I like the three elements but what can you do?"

…(Interruption)…

"Wait the Enforcers!" Whitney asked surprisingly, interrupting Jason's story. "As in the Agni Kai's personal attack dogs? As in the guys who got away with killing twenty three people? This year alone?" she asked, leaning over her desk and invading the teen's personal space a little.

He shrugged, "I guess. Can I finish?" he asked.

"Wait how the hell did you hear that?" she asked. _Is this twenty questions or something! If this keeps up I'm gonna get made easily._ he thought.

"I saw Spidy go down and I saw a fire escape, thought I could help the guy. But then I saw the other guy and laid low." he explained, making it up as he went along.

"Spidy?" she asked.

"Short for Spider-Man, now hush! I was painting a picture." Jason said as he got back to his story.

…(Flashback)...

"Now, how do want this? Slow and painful? Or quick and intense?" Icepick asked, drawing water from his pouches. Spider-Man thought quickly, _I got no way to her out of the way quick enough to doge those blades. Stupid poison, maybe I can get away and wait for the poison to wear off...oh crap_.

Icepick rose his hands and edged the water to a blade, as he threw his hands down along with the blades the masked hero sprayed a web into his face, blinding him. Spider-Man rolled off the roof and shot a web at the wall of the building and crashed through the window of the warehouse.

Icepick pulled the web off his face and looked over the ledge. "Hmm, nicely done kid. This is gonna be fun." he said with a wicked grin. He turned on his heel and headed to the rooftop door that lead into the building.

…

The we rehouse acted as a storage facility that housed crates after crates of auto parts." Ow...just ow. God that was a dumb idea." he muttered as he pulled the shard of glass out if his arm. His costume had a number of cuts on his legs and chest, one going across the spider on his chest. "Damnit. This is going to take hours to put back together." the injured teenager said as he walked on the catwalk.

Jason had a bit of experience with sewing, his mother taught him so that he could repair his clothes whenever he tore them. Thankfully he had the need to fully repair the costume...yet. _God that will be a pain in the ass to do._

Jason was so distracted by his thoughts he almost didn't have enough time to bend backwards as a blast of fire roasted the spot where his head used to be. "Hey! I'm walking here!" he shouted down to where the blast originated from. Down on the work floor was a man with a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and overalls. He had a curl to his hair with a toothpick in his mouth.

He also had to metal rods in each hand. "Oh let me guess, your one of the Enforcers. Aren't you?" he asked dryly. The man down on the lower floor nodded, "Of course." he said, leaning a elbow down on the railing and holding his head in the hand. "And you are?" he asked.

The man cracked his neck, "They call me Lariat." he outstretched his hands and held the metal rods out, a second later, the metal rods shot out flame whips. Oh crap in a hat.

The man raised both his arms and brought them down on both ends of the catwalk that made the section that held the teen fall to the ground. Jason slowly rose up from the ground and transferred to a handstand when the whip came down where his legs where. His hand couldn't stand the weight and fell a moment later, _Poison is still in effect. Great. Come on super healing, do your thing!_

Jason rose from the ground and flipped over to the side when Lariat swiped across the floor and took cover behind the crates. Ok time to get serious! Jason thought as he pushed the crates behind him back towards Lariat. The man watched as the stack of wooden crates began to tip towards him, "Oh damn." he muttered as they fell. The man unleashed a blast of fire at them as they feel, destroying the boxes.

When the smoke cleared, Spider-Man had vanished. "Crap. Well I guess Moose Lion has him now." he muttered, unaware that Spider-Man hung from the ceiling above him. _Moose Lion! What is he? The team mascot!?_ He wondered as Lariat walked away in search of him.

Falling to the floor, Jason clutched his shoulder as he felt pain shoot throughout the limb. "Crap this is bad, ok I'll just sit tight until this drug out of my system. Then payback." he surmised. The grunt behind him caught his attention, the teen turned to see a very, very, very big man.

He stood a few feet taller than Jason with a bald head, white wife beater shirt, military grade pants and boots. "Let me guess, your Moose Lion." the man nodded, "Before you start wailing on me, are there any more if you guys?" the man shook his head. "Oh ok. Let's get started." he said as he jumped away, only for his foot to be grabbed, _Mother F-_

Moose Lion brought the costumed teen into a platypus bear hug. _Good god in gonna die by someone hugging me!? _Jason thought. His ribs began to hurt, he had to think fast, with his arms locked at his sides and his legs just dangling there, he had only one choice left. The teen drew his head back and head-butted Moose Lion.

The large man let out a cry of pain as he let go of Spider-Man and clutched his forehead. The teen thought quick and swung his leg at the man's legs, kicking the floor out from under him. Spider-Man sprayed webbing onto his torso and floor and stuck him in place.

"Well I guess that while thing about saving the best fir last is just a crock after all." the vigilante said as he looked down on Moose Lion. The large man grinned and slammed his hands to the floor, the ground molded around his arms, legs, and torso. He rose from the ground with a newly made rock armor, "Oh crap."

The man rose his fist and swung it at Jason, he was sent crashing through row after row of crates, a large pile of rubble being ontop if him when he stopped. And halfway across the storage facility. Jason pushed the rubble off him and clutched his chest, I think my heart just got punched into my brain.

"Moose, why'd you break him? The bossman said to make it painful. Not to break his ribs." Jason looked up and saw that Lariat and Icepick hand joined the big brute, each with their weapons drawn.

"Not broken, just on fire right now. But thanks for the concern." Jason said as he rose up, much to the three's shock. Jason was in pain sure, but the colors had stopped blurring and his muscles didn't feel as stiff.

"What the hell! He's not supposed to be moving!" Lariat exclaimed in shock, that poison that Icepick created could stop a actual moose lion. It should be able to stop a little teenage twerp like him , super powers it not.

Thank you healing power! Jason thought as he readied himself into a fighting position. "That the best you guys got? I thought you guys were professionals!" he taunted. Moose Lion charged at him, Cushing boxes of crates under his feet as he closed the distance. As he was about to trample Jason, he leapt up and delivered and uppercut to Moose Lion's chin, making him stumble backward.

The goliath kneeled down as Lariat jumped overhead and threw his fire whip at the hero. Spider-Man jumped backward towards a wall of crates as the whip came down at the spot he was at. Jason narrowed his eyes as Icepick threw his ice dragged at him, instead of digging them, the teen leapt towards the three and knocked the ice daggers away by hitting the sides of the blades.

Before Lariat could swipe his whip at the airborne hero, he was blinded by the webs shot into his eyes. Jason landed right I front of him while he struggled to remove the webs and delivered a punch to the side of his face, sending him crashing into a few crates. Before he could web him to the floor, Moose Lion grabbed a crate and threw it at him.

The teen shot two weblines behind him and pulled himself to the wall of the warehouse. Moose Lion charged right at him, instead of attacking him again, Jason jumped backwards up the side wall as Moose Lion crashed through it, making a hole in the wall. "Holy crap." the teen muttered as he looked through the hole while upside down.

Jason grasped the meal and swung outside. The teen shot a webline to a crane and swung over to Moose Lion, "Hey big guy. Miss me?" he asked as the brute raided both his hands and brought then crashing down as Jason rolled out of the way and shot a web to his shoulder and pulled himself onto his shoulders, "Missed me again." he said as he shot webs onto the man's face.

Moose went into a panic and ran blindly towards a shipping container and went head first into a the metal container. With a groan, the rocks fell off his body and collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Just tone safe." Spider-Man said cautiously as he webbed the man to the ground, covering his full body so he couldn't use his earthbending.

"One down," he tuned in time to see a fire whip fly towards his face, Jason bent backwards and steadied himself on his hands when they met the ground as the whip snapped with a crack where his torso had been, "Two to go." he stated. The teen stood back up and saw Icepick and Lariat charging at him, Icepick drew water from his pouches and created two ice blades with them.

Spider-Man shot two webllines up to he crane and pulled Harold out of the way of Lariat's whips. In midair, he shot a web at a shipping contained and pulled himself on top of it. "You take the high ground, I'll go low." Icepick said as he climbed onto one of the containers to chase after the masked hero.

The vigilante stuck to the end of a container, _Ok I can't go on head first into these guys. That poison is still making me a bit sluggish, and I do not want to take chances with these professionals._ Spider-Man thought as he landed on the ground, before he could find somewhere to ambush them, he saw one if the container doors creaked open.

Lariat searched another row of shipping container latches, "Cone on you little bug where the hell are-" the sound of bending metal broke his concentration, "Got you." he took off quickly down the next expanse of concrete until he going the next row of doors. One of them had a slight bend to the door, Lariat grinned as he approached the door, "Your toast you damn insect!" he yelled as he flooded the container with fire.

Shen he opened the door, there was nothing inside. As the firebender inspected the charred metal box, he didn't see the one behind him open and hands reach put and grab his shoulders, "Now what if I where in there?" he Spider-Man asked mockingly, he threw the man into the real container he hid in, "Time out mister." the teen said before closing the hatch and webbing it shut.

The sound of shoes running on top of metal brought the hero's attention upward just in time for him to see Icepick drop down with ice swords drawn. Spider-Man rolled out of the way of the sharp ice that stuck themselves into the ground, "I'll give you credit kid. It's been a while since we got a good fight outta one of the men our boss sent us after." he said as he rushed towards the hero.

He slashed his blades at the teen, but he was faster than the water bender and easily doges the slashes at his numerous body parts. "You know you keep talking about your boss but I haven't heard a name yet." he said as he went the swept his leg towards him.

Icepick back stepped out of the way, "That's just bad business. I tell you and then everyone will want to know." he explained. The man transformed his blades into throwing knives, before he could throw them, Jason shot webs at his hands, forcing them back to the container and sticking them in place.

"Well I want to know why you guys decided to come after me." he stated as he started webbing his arms and legs. "And where I can find the guy who hired you guys."he said, bring his mask's eyes up to Icepick's who was beginning to slightly panic. He had never been pinched on anything before, no matter what crime it was he always got away with it along with his friends.

Until now that is.

"If I tell you he'll kill us." he stated not with fear but fact in his voice. "Last guy who tried to rat out on him got a shove to his neck in prison." he explained. Jason was at a in pass, he wanted to stop this guy, but was it really worth it if someone had to die because of it.

He sighed, "Then I'm sorry. I can't help you. But it's good to know you have your best interests at heart." he said before firing a webline and swinging himself away, leaving the men to face their due.

…

"Holy shit."

"Hey language." Jason told the reporter, "Do your readers know you have a potty mouth?" he asked. When he got home after his scuffle, he got the first aid kit out from under his sink and tended to his wounds. He also took a second look at the gauntlets, it was low tech, enough that he may be able to reproduce it if he had the right materials.

But he also discovered a space on them that he could store special webbing in, _If I do get any ideas at least I got a place to put them._ he thought as he remembered back. He also spent a good amount if money on repairing his costume, so much that he would be very behind on his rent if this kept up.

Whitney shook her head, "Kid this is perfect. Tell you what. I'll talk to my editor about this, I'll get back to you tomorrow after we double check with the police. Who knows, maybe you'll have a job tomorrow." she explained as she got up from her desk, Jason fallowing suit. She held out her hand and he shook it.

"By the way, why didn't I give this story to the editor? No offense but you don't look the type to be in charge if this place." he question as she walked him to the elevator.

She smirked, "I work the crime section of the paper usually. Did you read what the opening was even for?" she questioned. _Ok yeah I totally did...not_. Jason thought to himself. His rent was due in a few days and he didn't have any time to waste. The teen shook his head, making the reporter laugh, "Well it's strange occurrences section. Who knows, if you get the job, we may work together." she said, making the teen smile.

"I may like that Whitney." he said as he entered the elevator.

…

Jason was exhausted, he had been out for about three hours now , trying to find whatever info he could on the leader of the Agni Kai Triad. Spider-Man ducked as a bat swung at his head and slugged the man who was, with his two friends, wet king a convince store store moments ago. His two friends where currently unconscious in the street.

The man skidded back from the blow and didn't expect the fallow up midair kick to the side of the face. He landed on the ground with a thud and moan, showing he wasn't going to be any trouble. He looked at the store and saw that the most damaged thing was the front window had been smashed. "A-Are they gone?" the clerk asked, poor guy looked like he saw the worst thing ever.

Spider-Man walked over to him as he webbed the men to the ground, "Yea they're not gonna cause any more damage. You should call the police as soon- "

"Spider-Man! On the ground! Now!" The two turned to see three metal bending police officers. Oh that's just perfect, just what I wanted. _Why not make it so that my paper is...oh crap it actually is do to marrow! _the teen thought in realization.

"Look guys. Right now I got to get some work done so how about you round the actual criminals up." he said, pointing to the men on the sidewalk. The officers gave each other a look before firing their cables at Spider-Man. The vigilante twisted his body so the cables just barely missed, "Oh you guys are just jerks! I'm sorry but you guys are acting like jerks at least!" he says before shorting webbing at the men's feet.

Jason found out rather quickly that he was easily faster than any of the men with their metal cables. He could only guess that since he didn't have all that metal equipment slowing him down. "Look I would just love to stay here and chat but I got a project due tomorrow and I gotta run. See ya!" he said, giving a fingered salute before jumping into the air and firing a webline before swinging away.

Jason swung from the stand of webbing into the air, rolling his body in midair as he did to shoot a web on the side of a wall at the corner of a building. I swear I gotta sit down with one of the councilmen or something and talk with one of them, who knows maybe they'll get the police off my-'_Attention all units, all units. We have a fire at Onagi plaza. High rise building reports people trapped inside, firemen in route, ETA ten minutes_.'

_Ten minutes!_ Spider-Man thought as he altered his course by swinging around a telephone antenna. He flew off the metal and shot a web to one of the buildings below as he fell, rocketing himself down the street.

_It's a high rise building, that means they'll send a airship to evacuate anyone trapped_. He pulled back on his web as he swung, accelerating his speed through the air. _I'm not losing anyone to a fire. Not again. _Jason thought with determination.

He was near the plaza and he could see the fire, the teen flashed back to his old apartment, how he discovered his home turning to ashes. _Don't think, move, focus on what your doing_. the teen thought as he flew high into the air towards the building. Shooting a web to the side of the building, he circled around the building and tucked himself as he crashed through the window.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" Spider-Man called out. _God what I wouldn't give to be able to look though walls right now!_ the teen thought as he ran through the burning fire. The building was a hotel complex, he couldn't help but think back to his home.

"Mommy!"

Jason froze, it was a little girl. The voice came from the door beside him so he knocked it down, smoke flooding the room. He had to move fast, he needed to get the girl out before she suffocates to death, "Little lady? You in here?" the teen asked as he scanned the small room.

"H-hello?" a tiny voice asked. Jason smiled under his mask as he headed to where the voice came from, the closet. Spider-Man opened the door and saw the small girl huddled in the corner of the closet. She backed away from the masked man further into the corner, "Ahhhh! Monster! Monster !" she screamed while he tried to calm her down.

"Hey hey hey, it's ok, I'm not a monster." Jason said, tying to calm her. The young girl's eyes where wide as dinner plates when he kneeled down close to her. Ok I gotta try this some other way. Jason thought as he withdrew his hand, "Look sweetie," he pulled his glove off his hand, "not a monster. Just a normal guy." he said.

The little girl looked at the hand and reached her hand out and touched the skin, "Come on, let's get you outta here." Spider-Man said as he reached his hand out to her. The girl ran into Spider-Man, he clasped his arm around her as he stuffed the glove in his suit, giving her the bare hand to clutch onto.

He held her close to his chest as he looked for a way out. "So what's your name sweetie?" he asked as he shot a web at a side table and threw it to the glass window.

"Emika." she said in shock at what the stranger had just done to the window.

"Emika. That's a pretty name. Now look Emika, what's gonna happen next is gonna be scary. But I won't let anything happen to you. Ok?" Spider-Man questioned, the little girl nodded.

The teen jumped out the window with the girl held close to his chest. Spider-Man shot a webline to the side of the building and descended on the line towards the ground. The little girl was shaking fiercely, "It's ok Emika. Look." he said, slightly nudging her.

The little girl peaked out from his grasp, the city was beautiful at this time of night with the lights on the streets and buildings. "Wow...it's so pretty." she says in awe at the sene. Jason smiled under his mask.

"Yep. It sure is." He said as they both got closer and closer to the ground. The crowd gathering near the front if the building with the firetrucks and ambulances parked and working hard. Spider-Man landed in the front of the crowd, starting a good amount of them. "Is anyone missing this little lady?" he asked, raising the little girl over his head as the police in the front of the crowd prepared to take him down.

Seriously! What do I gotta do? Rescue Lin Bei-Fong? Jason thought to himself. For a moment the scene seamed to drag on for a few minutes unto a woman appeared in the front of the crowd, "Emika! My baby!" she said as she broke through the crowd of policemen. Spider-Man held her out as her mother approached him with tears in her eyes. "My darling! My baby!" she said as the two family members embraced.

Jason felt both sadness and joy as the scene unfolded in front of everyone. _If only it was mom... _the mother turned to the teen with a amazing smile along with tears going down her face, "Spirits bless you. You saved my little girl...thank you Spider-Man." she said, her voice full of relief.

Emika smiled up at the masked man, "Not a monster. Right?" the teen nodded as he put his glove back on.

By now the officers snapped out oh their daze, "Spider-Man you are under arrest for endangerment of a child!" one shouted, the other officers stomped on the ground and levitated rocks, ready to crush him.

"Are you serious!"

"He saved her!"

"Run Webhead!"

_I think I'll go with door number three on this one. _Jason thought as he jumped onto and bounced off the burning building, shooting a webline towards the nearest wall and flew down over the streets as the crowd cheered for him below. _Well that was a new one. First time I got a crowd of people on my side._

Spider-Man swung over rooftops as he made his way towards his apartment, landing onto a roof and launching himself off the ledge of it and onto his apartment building wall. He crawled to his windo and slid it open, climbing into the apartment, pulled off his mask and entered his bedroom, "Can't...make...another...pun." he says before collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep.

…

The sound of his door knocking made Jason jump out of bed, he was still in his costume! He ran to the closet and searched for something clean to wear, "Just a minute!" he called as the knocking intensified. He threw on some jeans, socks, tee shirt and a hoodie before answering the door. "Whitney? What are you doing here?" the teen asked.

The reporter grinned, "Well I was thinking you may want to get the first copy." she said, handing the teen the paper. On the front page was a picture of Spider-Man with Emika in his arms. The headline read: **Spider-Man: Hero or Menace? **

Jason brushed through the article and recognized the story right away. "You wrote my story." he stated with surprise. He had guessed that there where more important stories going on in the city than his alter-ego.

Whitney smiled, "With his display at the fire last night, he's now officially all that the city is talking about. And wit your story, we're gonna sell out." she said happily. "Come on, my editor wants to meet ya." she said as she pulled him out of the apartment.

Jason withdrew his hand, "I got school today and-Oh crap!" he never worked on the writing project. Xang was gonna kill him, and his grade is gonna plummet it the class as well.

Jason ran into his room and grabbed his bag, stuffing his mask inside, "Can't you just skip today? I mean my boss is understanding and all but the sooner you see him-" Jason zoomed past her and ran downstairs, "On second thought, I'll meet you there when it let's out."

…

Jason entered the classroom and sat down at his desk, _Ok maybe if I rush this I can get a B on this or_- the bell rang. _I'm doomed._ the teen thought as he slouched in his desk. Mis. Obi entered the class and sat at her desk, "Ok class. Everyone bring your projects up to the desk." Before Jason could get up to face the music, Xang bushed past him and gave her a paper. Much to Jason's shock.

"Ok class, you've all worked hard, free period today." the teacher said, making the class cheer. "Quiet." she stated. Jason looked back to Xang, he was smiling and was waving to him.

Jason joined him a moment later, "Look Xang I'm sorry I didn't get it done I've been busy and-" the jock waved him off and gestured to the empty seat beside him, his friends behind him nodded, encouraging him to sit. Ok I got a bad feeling about this.

The teen sat down as Xang pulled outa newspaper and pointed to the front page, "Dude you know the Spider-Man! Forget it. Besides it's the least I can do. After...you know." he stated, getting a nod of understanding from the teen.

Jason smiled as he was handed the paper from him, "Yea...but thank you Xang. Seriously." he said gratefully. He never had someone have his back like that before, mostly he was a wallflower, not a socialite.

The jock patted him on the shoulder, "Just don't forget this next time I need help with math." Jason smirked and nodded, "Good. So I still got that extra ticket..." he goaded.

The teen rolled his eyes, "Fine. You got me, but if I don't show, feel free to sell the ticket." he reasoned. Xang figured that was a pretty good situation, he comes and he hands out with the guy. If not, he sells it and gets some money. Win win.

As Jason read the paper, something caught his eye near the end of the article.

Councilman Tenzin has said that Spider-Man shouldn't be taken in before he is questioned for the reasons behind his actions. In contrast to that councilman Tarrlock and Chief Lin Bei-Fong believe that he vigilante and should be brought in.

Huh, maybe I got a friend as Spider-Man after all. Jason thought as he read on.

…

"How do you even know what school I go to?" Jason asked as Whitney drove them to the Marvel. He never handed her anything that had home address, so he was surprised to see her waiting outside the school for him.

She smirked, "Reporters are kind of like detectives. We gotta make assumptions and use common sense." she explained as they pulled to a stop outside the newspaper publisher's office. "You said you went to school so I called all the high schools until I found you." she explained as they entered the building.

"So is your boss...strict?" Jason asked warily. He knew that he wouldn't always be able to meet a deadline, and with his life as Spider-Man involved, there's no certainty he may keep the job for long.

Whitney laughed at the notion as the doors of the elevator opened, "Nah, boss is one if the nicest guys ever. Just relax kid, you'll do fine." she said as she pointed the teen towards the boss's office. Jason approached the door with his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn't scared, he was nervous if anything.

He knocked his knuckles against the door, he heated a muffled sound before entering. Behind the chair sat older man with white hair big grey in the middle of his head, a angular face, a small mustache, white as his hair. And shades that blocked out his eyes, "Oh you must be kid Whitney was telling me about." the man said as he rose to greet the teen. He was a skinny man but looked for for his age as well.

Jason shook himself put of his daze and nodded, "Yes sir. My name is Jason O-rou."he said, giving a slight bow to the man, showing a sign of respect.

The man chuckled, "Now now, no need to get formal with me son. Call me Stan. Stan Lee." he said as he reached his hand out. Jason shook of right away.

"Nice to meet you Stan." Jason said.

Stan smiled, "Likewise. Now, Whitney tells me that your still in high school, is that right?" he asked. Not many youths today where still going to school by then, most had a job already and where moving up in the world. Jason nodded, "That's good, I mean you can't work at a place like this forever. But you gotta find something to pay bills right?"

Jason nodded again. Stan smiled, "Alright then how about this. You did that Spider-Man story Amazingly. But since public taste is picky each week, I'll assign you to these stories that people call in and tell about. You experience anything interesting or see it, write it. And you get paid for each one." he explained. _I think I hit my head in that last fight._

"And if you give us something that will sell us out like you did today, you'll get a bonus." He bargained, "You'll get a desk here, come in when you can, and write what you can. How's that sound?" he asked. _Yep it's official I died in that fire._

"T-t-that's great! Yes, I can definitely get behind that Stan." Jason said in complete shock at the man's kind offer towards him. The idea of somewhere he that he can make money from on his own time sounded like a dream come true.

Stan smiled, "Great! Now cone on, I just gotta fill out your paperwork." he said as he sat the teen down at the chair in front of his desk.

Later that day, Jason paid the rent and cooked himself a meal.

…

Councilman Tenzin sighed as he exited city ha. Tarrlock had been going above and beyond his limits in the council, again. He moved forward that a task force be created to track down Spider-Man. He stated that if they could find out how he obtained his powers, then they could use it to their own advantage. _More like his own agenda._ The man thought as he made his way to where Oogi , his bison, rested.

As the monk walked towards his bison, he thought of the paper that he had read this morning. Spider-Man risked his life to save a child in a burning building. That showed that he was brave or foolish, and either could be a good or bad thing.

"Excuse me, councilman Tenzin?" The monk turned behind him to see no one was there. "Up here." Tenzin looked from where the voice came from.

Sticking with his back against the wall was Spider- Man, much to the man's surprise. "You seem like the least likely guy to want and try to kill me right now. Can we talk?"

**AN: I HAD t do it. I mean Spidy without Stan Lee is like Han without Chewie. Anyway, I looked into it and saw that there's no way that with a camera from that time, that anyone could take photos like Pete.**

**And the Enforcers where both from the original texts of the comics mixed with my own idea of what they'd be like in Avatar.**

**So next time; Spider-Man's talk with Tenzin and the pro bending match with Xang, Jason's new bud. Thank you for reading and I would really appreciate it if you guys left reviews. I'm glad that so many people are interested in this story and I live it!**

**Thanks again for reading, till next time true believer!**


	6. Chapter 6

Pro Bending

_This is a stupid idea. I shouldn't be doing this, I mean what's stopping him just air blasting me off the wall? _Jason thought as he looked down at the startled Airbender. It was common knowledge that air acolytes and air benders are peaceful people and that they wouldn't attack if not only to defend themselves. But the teen had just been attacked by three benders at once yesterday, he's expecting almost anything now.

The councilman seemed to snap put of his shock, "I'll be honest Spider-Man. I didn't expect you to come to me. With your...status, I thought you'd believe this to be a trap." he explained as the masked teen crawled swung closer to the monk. _Amazing...he's sticking to the wall and moving along it like he's just walking_.

"Well I'll be honest, I kinda did. With that big target on my back I've learned to keep a eye in the back of my head. Metaphorically of course." he added once seeing the man's shocked face at the mention if a extra eye.

"In my defense, no one knows anything about you, let alone what you look like under that mask." Tenzin said as he crossed his arms. "You can imagine why people aren't welcoming of you." he explained as the teen landed in front of him.

Spider-Man scratched the back of his head, "Well if I start giving crap away about me then the people I've been putting away could go after the people close to me." The teen shook his head, "I'm getting side tracked. The reason I came to find you is the paper said you wanted to ask some questions about me. Well that and I want at least one of you guys not to want my head on your wall." he explained.

Tenzin crossed his arms, "Well you don't need to worry about that. But you need to understand that I still want you to turn yourself in. Your a vigilante, but there are laws that everyone needs to fallow." he stated firmly. Tenzin strongly believed in the law, he had spent a great deal of his life trying to make Republic City into what his father wanted.

Spider-Man's lenses seemed to narrow, "And what about the guys who break the law as they please? As long as there are rules, people are just gonna either break them or find a way around them." the teen argued. The triads had a lot of money that could fill a lot of people's pockets in important positions, which is part of the reason he decided to speak with Tenzin.

He seems like a good guy, but he wanted to be sure he could be trusted. Tenzin raised a eyebrow at the masked teen's proclamation, "Why do you think your qualified to do what the police can do perfectly on their own? Why not just stay out of it?" the man asked.

Jason's head tipped forward slightly, "Because the last time I did that, I lost the only person in the world that mattered anything to me." he says, making Tenzin give him a sympathetic look. "My mom died because I didn't use my powers to stop bad men from doing something I knew was wrong. That day, I learned that with great power comes great responsibility. I have powers that no one else has, and it's my responsibility to use them to help people."

Tenzin looked at the vigilante with sympathy, when his father passed, he was distraught. He sometimes just stayed in bed all day, not able to face what had happened, but his wife, Pema, had been there with him through it all and he was happy for that. But as far as he knew, Spider-Man had no one left to lose but himself. "I'm sorry did your loss...but that doesn't excuse you breaking the law."

Spider-Man uncrossed his arms, "I'm not asking for a excuse . But if you where in my position , wouldn't you do the same thing?" he questioned.

Before he could reply, Spider-Man's scanner came to life, _'Central we got a chase in progress heading by City Hall. All units identify.'_ the staticky voice said, startling Tenzin slightly. _Of course...why not_. Jason thought.

"You...you made a police scanner into your suit?" Tenzin asked in shock. He knew that Lin kept those under lock and key, not even retired police officers could have any. So how could someone like Spider-Man make one small enough to hide onto his suit?

"I...uh...well it's not important right now. I gotta run!" Spider-Man said as he shot a web to the side of the building, "Nice chat, we'll have to do this again sometime soon!" he yelled as he flew into the air and after the car chase, leaving the councilmen only to watch him disappear behind one of the building.

The monk sighed, "Well at least he's using his abilities for good." he says as he begun to make his way back to Oogi.

…

Jason swung over the cop cars, the car chase started when a bank robbery went south towards the end and someone called the police. The criminal's decided to take a hostage as reassurance, a bank teller was in the back seat with a knife pointed at her face threateningly. Jason shot a line and kicked his legs out and flew between the cop cars and towards the car with the hostage.

_Ok, how do I do this? Can't crash it, hostage may get hurt. Maybe this is the time to feast how elastic my webbing is_. Jason thought as he swung down the street in pursuit of the car. The young hero jumped off his webline and shot two of them at the lampposts up ahead and pulled his arms back.

The red and black vigilante flew past the car in the air. Flipping his body so his torso was upside down, he crossed his arms and sprayed a large web between two buildings before wrapping a web around a streetlamp and swung around it to a stop above it as the car ran right into the web . The car stretched the webbing a few good feet before the webbing recoiled and pulled the car back down the street.

Spider-Man jumped to the web and climbed down it towards the car where the men where panicking. "Oh hell! Quick get out before-" the driver started before a hand grabbed him through the door window and pulled him out to the other occupants' horror.

Spider-Man threw him to the web, "Wait right there. I'm not done with you yet." he said before climbing over the roof of the satomobile. Peaking in the back seat, he rammed his fist through the window and knocked the man holding the knife to the bank teller's face out cold. "Now I'll let the other two gentlemen in the car a choice. Get out of the car or I wail on you guys." he said.

A moment later the men opened the doors and ran out onto the webs as the police pulled to a stop. Spider-Man looked inside the car and held out his hand to hostage, "Would you like some help down Ma'am?" the teen asked half joking and half serious. The woman shakily shook her head as she took his hand, Spider-Man helped her out and lowered her to the ground via web.

As the woman ran to the police, Spider-Man climbed the web towards the captured criminal, "Oh sprits no! W-wait! Take the money!" he said, holding out a stack Yuans to the teen. He never expected the vigilante to smack the hand away.

"So which one are you with? Gang I mean, not dance class." He said as he grabbed the man's collar before firing a webline to a building and pulling the man up with him. Landing on the roof, Spider-Man threw him to the side of a maintenance doorway and stuck him to the wall.

"Agni Kai! Agni Kai!" the man yelled frantically.

The masked teen walked over beside the man, "Good. Now tell me who's your boss. And why did he want you to rob that bank?" he questioned as he laid his back up against the wall. _The Enforcers were contracted goins, so hopefully done low level thug will give me the answers I want._

"I don't know who he is." the man said, shame in his voice.

The teen leaned down so his reflective lens where right in front of the man's face, "I swear! I don't know who he is! It's supposed to be like that! I know what I need to know, and my bosses do, and it goes all the way up like that!" he explained.

Oh great, it's like a pyramid scheme, just what I need.

Spider-Man rubbed his eyes, "Alright! Alright! Don't pee yourself man." he said, webbing his mouth shut. "I think I may know just the person to talk to about this." he said as he walked off the building and shot a webline towards the tallest building.

…

"Mr. Sato please! My research has done so much for the city! I've dedicated my life to this company." the scientist pleaded to the industrial giant. The scientist, a Dr. Ahask, was responsible for a fair amount of the technological advancements made to Republic City. But due to his department not being able to produce anything in the past years, his team was being disbanded.

Hitoshi let out a sigh, "Ahask, I'm sorry. But your department hadn't produced a new product in five years! You did the entire world a service by helping on the improvement on those old war balloons. I'm truly sorry Ahask, I can-"

"But this is my life's work! I've put everything I can into this company!" Ahask stated hostilely. He was not about to let his life work be all for nothing, he may be old, but he's brilliant. That's not the most seen combination.

Hiroshi gave him a pitiful look, "Ahask. I really am sorry. You've done good work. And you should be proud of that, but I think that your time here is-"

"Don't. I know when I'm not wanted." Ahask said as he made his way to the office door and slamming it shut behind him. _Who does that man think he is! We'll see what he thinks of me when the Future Industries' top project isn't where he left it! _the old man thought as he walked towards the R&D department.

He had been solely working on a form of revolutionary technology. The man entered his office, it was small but he liked it, the floor was decorated with a platypus bear rug that went from wall to wall, a large desk, and a bookshelf with various books and notebooks that he had filled.

Ahask approached the bookshelf and pulled out his first three notes that where randomly scattered apart on the shelves. The bookcase slid to the left, revealing his project.

A suit that could give people the ability to fly. The Vertical Turbulence Resistance Escalating suit. V.T.R.E suit. Or as Akash liked to call it:

The Vulture suit.

…

"A pyramid scheme? Are you joking?" Whitney asked the teen, Jason figured that the best person to ask about criminal hierarchy without fear of being shot would be Whitney. Ever since he started working at the Marvel, Jason had been handed strange assignments to investigate. For example his first one was that there was a secret monster living below in the sewers that are anything that went down there.

And to his surprise he found a whole homeless hideout that took whatever was tossed or lost down there and got the raw materials out of it to sell for a fix. But it was being sold by the triads so Jason put a stop to it, even gave the homeless the drug money so they could get a place to temporarily stay at.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Well that's like what my only guess is. I mean I don't see then having a whole crime syndicate council or something." he explained as he and Whitney walked out of the elevator. "Besides it's not like I'm planing on joining anytime soon." he added as they pasted men and women typing away.

"Well it's like a class system. You have the grunts at the bottom , then the thugs, then the actual members, then the enforcers, then-"

"I get it! God there's no 'off' button on you isn't there?" Jason interrupted as they sat down at their desks across from one another. On his desk was a picture of his mother, his typewriter, notepad, and his in and out box that he revived his assignments from.

Whitney raised a eyebrow at that, "Really? Wow no wonder you don't have a girlfriend." she said, pulling the paper out of her inbox. "Hey check your box." she said as she read over her paper.

Jason grasped his paper and read it: **Work with Whitney; Yesterday Future Industries had a break in, surprisingly nothing was apparently stolen but one of the lead scientists, Ahask Tombs is now missing. There are also reports of something flying overhead and away from the headquarters the same day. **

"Ahask. I know him." Jason said after reading over the paper.

Whitney's eyes widened, "How the hell do you know one of Future Industries scientists? Was he like a professor at your school or something?" she asked jokingly. She found out pretty quickly that Jason was educated when he was able to fix coffee machine in the lounge when maintenance had been spending days on it.

The teen rolled his eyes, "No. I went to one of his lectures at Four Nations Collage smarty pants. He's the reason that those airships that the police use are fast as they are. He made the propulsion technology." he explained as he grabbed his notepad along with Whitney.

"Ok, you ask the detectives anything you can, I'll interview Mr. Sato himself." she said as they entered the elevator together. Whitney had a good reputation among the rich and almost famous, that was the ones she didn't persecute which her stories.

The teen sighed, _Whitney's as stubborn as my mother when it comes to who interviews who. No point in arguing over something I just know I'm going to lose_. he thought as the elevator opened on the ground floor. "You head to his estate, I'll check out the factory." Jason suggested.

Whitney nodded, "Sounds good, and don't be afraid to get a little pushy with questions kid. I can tell you can be intimidating if you really...really tired." she said, trying to give her co-worker some support.

"Thank you Whitney I'm oozing with confidence. Meet you back here by tomorrow then." he said, giving her a wave goodbye as they went their separate ways.

Jason went into the nearest secluded area, a alleyway, and changed into his costume before swinging out into the city with a web pack containing his clothes on his back.

…

Future Industries. Jason would be lying is he said he didn't want to look at getting a job here. Sure, anyone can work the line, but he wants to be a part of the R&D development. Who knows what he could do with all that technology at his disposal as Spider-Man. Not to mention all the people he could help with his own inventions.

The factory had been closed down until the investigation was over with, the front was filled with a crowd of complaining workers , all of then shouting or demanding to get to work for their pay. Jason was currently squeezing his way through the crowd towards the front where the police had sealed the area.

When he finally brushed past the last man, he found the nearest officer and showed him his press pass. The metal bender let him pass into the factory, Jason couldn't help but gawk at all the equipment, he just wanted to sit down and get to work on something, but he knew better and fallowed the officer to the lead detective.

Entering the R&D department, he glanced down from the catwalk at what was currently being made. There where generator spread throughout, along with rubber insulation. On one of the tables was what looked like a glove, "Jason?" the teen looked up to see a familiar face.

"Detective Wei! Good to see you." he said as he shook the man's hand. Wei was surprised to see Jason here of all places. They still had Dragon Chang in custody, waiting to testify for when Lightning Bolt Zolt showed up, if he ever did.

"Hey kid, what are you doing here? I thought it was a school day." he stated.

Jason showed him his press pass, "Working actually. I'm working at the Daily Marvel now." he explained. _Along with going out at night and making sure the triads and bad guys think twice before they act. _he thought to himself.

Wei raised a eyebrow, "Really? Well good for you kid. Come on, I'll give you the details." he said as he entered the office of the missing scientist. The room was nearly untouched, save for the broken window behind the desk, "We believe that someone repelled from the side of the building, broke the glass, then took Ahask. But strangely enough, he was let go right before he was abducted." Wei explained as Jason wrote down notes.

"And security didn't hear or see anything?" Jason asked with disbelief. The only way not to get seen would be of you could fly out of here, and as far as he knows he's the only one who could pull something like that off.

Wei shook his head, "Not a thing. Like he just vanished." he explained.

"You think this may be a cover? If he was laid off, a guy like him could be valuable to the right person with means to produce something like Future Industries." Jason asked as he walked around the room. It wouldn't be the first time someone was taken for what secrets they knew.

Wei scratched his chin, "Possible but then why not just hire him when he walked out the door the next day?" he asked, "Besides if he just shows up at another company then they'll be under investigation as well." he added.

Jason sighed, this was a strange one, _Ok think, you disappear the day your fired. What do you do?_ "What about this: Ahask did it himself. He gets upset that he got fired, broke the window, panicked, and went out a back exit?" he guessed.

Wei shook his head, "Nah they got guards at every entrance and exit. No way he got passed them." he said, deflating his idea.

"Ok, so nothing else? Well maybe my friend is doing better with Hiroshi." Jason said hopefully.

…

"Well I got Jack shit. You?" Whitney asked as she sat at her desk while Jason used his typewriter. It was almost sunset and she had just spent the last few hours getting absolutely nothing of value from Mr. Sato.

"Language. And no, only that the guy must be able to teleport or something." he explained as he laid back in his chair. Whitney let out a sigh, showing that she didn't have anything to contribute as well.

"Well we got a few days until the article is published. Hopefully we'll get some new developments by then." she said as she stood from her seat and grabbed her bag.

Jason raised a skeptical eye, "So we just wait until either the guy winds up dead or somewhere so horrible we can't publish it? Great." he said sarcastically. The reason he came here is to find people that need his help, but something like this is one of those times when he starts to kick himself.

Whitney gave him a sympathetic look, "There's a old saying, no news is good news. Not every story has a happy ending Jason. It's just how the world is." she said before heading to the elevator, "See ya tomorrow Jason." she called back.

"Yea you too." he called back. The office was almost clear of people, except for those still getting their work done. Jason stayed for only a few more minutes before leaving the office.

...

Spider-Man swung through the air as he headed to his home. _God I still can't stop thinking of Ahask. Who know what the guys going through right now. The guy must be scared out of his mind._ he thought as he swung between buildings on either side of the street.

As he launched himself high into the air, he didn't see the green blur fly past him. "Woah! What the-" Spider-Man exclaimed as he landed on the side of a building. He looked up to where the blur went and became frozen.

"You! Your real!"

In the air was a old man in a green jumpsuit with what looked like silver talons on his feet. On his arms were what appeared to be wings, there where also what appeared to be feathers but looked edged to a blade on each one. "Ahask! Your alive!" Spider-Man said with shock. "And...flying..." he stated in realization that the man was a matter of fact hovering in the air, a few feet away from the building.

"Spider-Man! I thought you where just a myth! Ohhh, I see, Hiroshi sent you! He wants the suit!" Ahask said in realization.

Spider- Man shook his head, " No no no! Look the police are looking for you, they-"

"They want me to give this back?! No! Never! I worked on this for the last few years of my life! I won't give it back!" He said, pushing himself Malay with his wings.

As he flew away, Jason leapt off the side of the building and fired a webline to the building that Ahask flew over. "Wait up! It's not what you think!" he yelled out to the man as he swung through the air. The vigilante swung higher into the air after him, trying to catch up to him as best he could.

Ahask looked down and saw that Spider-Man was close, "Leave me alone!" he says as he threw his wing out. Jason didn't expect the feathers to detach from the wing! Thinking quickly, he let go of the web and fell so that the razor sharp feathers missed him.

_Ok I hate to do this, but I gotta bring him down. _Jason thought before he shot a webline at a low building and catapulted himself high into the air after Ahask. When he got close enough, be fired a web at the old man's foot. "Now if you calm down, and bring us down, I'll-GAHH!" he yelled as Ahask went into a nosedive towards the roads below and then flying back high into the air.

"Don't call me that anymore! Ahask did whatever his boss wanted. Not me! Not the Vulture!" he yelled as they went high above the city. Spider-Man looked behind him and grimaced, _If we keep going like this and he cuts my line, I'll be a pancake on the street...damnit I hate it when they get away! _Jason thought before letting go of the webline and falling back towards the buildings of the city. The young hero pulled himself to the side of a building with his web and watched as the newly declared Vulture flew away out of his reach.

"Damnit." He muttered as he put his back against the wall. _I've never had to fight someone airborne...then again I've never had to before_. The teen thought as he jumped off the building and began swinging his way home.

…

"Flying...your serious?" Whitney asked the teen. Jason had made up a story of seeing Spider-Man and Vulture and their little exchange from a taxi cab. Thankfully Whitney bought it, was locally with eye witnesses saying the same thing he saw.

Jason nodded, "As serious as a lost child. The guy had this crazy wing suit on, with wings and everything." he described as best he could. _If I got a closer look at that suit of his, I may be able find a way to ground him next time I see him._ Jason thought.

Whitney brushed her hair out of her eye, "Well I guess the story has developed." she said, looking on the positive side of things as she sat down at her desk. Whitney had wrote about some strange articles before, but flying men? That was something you read in the pulps at the local newsstand.

Jason bent down derived his desk to retrieve his schoolbag, "Look, I got a get together with a semi-friend of mine. We're going to the Pro-Bending match tonight and he's expecting me to show. Could you maybe..."

"Semi-friend?"

"He used to be a jerk and he's trying to make up for it." Jason explained. "Could you please get started on the article? I'll work on the rest tomorrow. I promise. " he said, holding his hands together in a pleading motion. He just wanted one night off to spend with a friend, was that too much to ask?

The reporter gave him a stern look, "I make the opening tonight. You work on everything else, or I get all credit. Deal?" she asked.

Jason nodded, "Deal. And sorry again for this." he said as he slung his bag onto his back.

Whitney waved her hand, "Don't fret about it. All I could get from Hiroshi was that he was taking his daughter to a Pro-Banding game tonight. Who knows, maybe you'll run into him." she said, making the teen halt. Whitney immediately noticed, "What's wrong Jason?"

The teen slowly turned to her, "If Ahask is so mad at his boss...do you think he'd try and go after him?" the teen asked as he remembered the razor sharp talons and wings.

Whitney caught on right away, "You think he may go after him tonight...he does barely leave his home or office." she stated with a thoughtful look on her face. She shook her head, "I don't think he'd risk it. If he did hurt him, he'd be thrown in jail for the rest of his life." she said decisively.

_Unless he has nothing left to lose._ The teen thought as he made his way to the elevator.

…

"So you've never been to one of the games? Like even with you had a date?" Xang asked as he, Jason and his friends passed the ticket counter at the gates of the stadium.

The teen gave his friend a look, "One, no I never have. Two, I would have to have gone on a date to answer that question." he answered. The small group of teenagers maneuvered themselves through the crowd of people.

Xang clasped his eyes and shook his head, "Dude, in not gonna lie, that's a little sad." he said with sympathy.

"Yep. I know...so where's the seats at?" the teen asked as his new friend lead him and the others towards the stadium. Passing though one of the entrances, the lights of the building almost blinded him when he saw the sage. "Wow...that's pretty cool." Jason said with a smile as they climbed down the stairs with Xang's friends.

One of them was Pi Kong, or just Kong, the water bender of the team. He was heavy set but also hard to move out of the ring. He was bald with a goatee, he stood a bit taller than Jason, he was intimidating, but a big softy underneath it all.

The other was the firebender of the team, Lee Kai, he had bed head brown hair with a small frame, making him perfect for quick and evasive fighting. He's usually a quiet guy and he isn't the most open , but he's a skilled firebender .

As the four took their seats, Jason kept his eyes peeled for anyone that looked like Ahask. Just in case he did decided to show up.

…

"Thank you so much dad!" Asami exclaimed as she gave her father a big hug. She greatly enjoyed watching the matches and stayed up late at night listening to the broadcasts since she was a little girl, her father didn't see what was so special about the matches, but if it made his little girl happy, it made him happy.

The older man smiled and returned his daughter's hug, "Anything for you my little princess." he said as they entered their private booth. They were unaware of the man in trench coat and hat fallowing them.

…

_Ok I definitely need to give this sport a second look._ Jason thought as the match had begun. It was amazing, the teams fought like their lives depended on it, the crowd was screaming like nothing he's ever heard before and he was joining with them. "Go Blue bandits!" Xang shouted down at the team sporting blue uniforms.

As the match went on, Jason noticed Hiroshi Sato in one of the private boxes with a younger girl in there with him, "Hey, I'm gonna get a snack, you guys want anything?" He said as he sat up.

Kong raised a finger, "Popcorn of they got some."

Xang pointed to the waterbender, "Same. And Lee will probably want some too." he said, receiving a nod from the firebender. The unknown hero nodded and made his way up towards the stands, _I gotta make sure that Hiroshi is safe. Otherwise it'll keep gnawing at me. _he thought as he sent someone to give the popcorn to Xang and friends.

The teen found a utility closet and went in as he began to take off his shirt, revealing the black spider underneath.

…

Ahask stood outside the room that held Hiroshi. He discarded the coat and hat before he spread his wings, the blades swinging slightly in the light. He took a few steps back before he flew towards the door.

…

Jason emerged from the closet in full void time as he adjusted the mask. The sounds of screams emitted from the stadium, but this time they where screams of terror. The costumed teen rushed to the nearest stadium entrance. Vulture was there alright, with a girl about his age in his talons and over the stadium.

"You took away what I dedicated my life to Hiroshi! Let's see how you like it when I do the same to you!" Vulture shouted down to his former boss. He was in the stands with a look of absolute terror on his face, he couldn't lose Asami, first his wife, but he didn't think he could handle loosing Asami.

"Ahask please! Don't hurt her!" He pleaded with the man. Asami looked absolutely petrified, he had her in her talons by her shoulders. She was high above the stadium, so high that if she where to fall, best case she wouldn't be able to move ever again.

_If I swung over there, he'll see me coming a mile away. Jason thought. There is something I've been wanting to test...but it's super dangerous...then again when isn't something I do super dangerous?_ he thought as he attached two webs to the doorway to the stadium. He stepped back and tugged on the lines to make sure they where firmly in place before backing himself up.

_This is crazy_. He thought as he took one last step back until the webs where at their limit. With one last tug on the webs, he lifted his feet from the floor and was flung into the air at high speeds towards Vulture. As he closed in on the winged man, he shot a web at the man's face, making him let go of the girl and letting him be able catch ya, "Dropping by?" he asked as he sprayed a web to the ceiling of the stadium and descended down into the stands, the crowd cheering in response.

Spider-Man landed next to the older Sato, who immediately rushed over to his daughter and enveloped her in a a hug, "Oh my baby! My baby girl!" he said with tears brimming in his eyes.

Spider-Man looked up to Vulture, "Ok bird brain! I was trying to be nice last time but now I'm gonna pluck your feathers!" he shouted as he swung after him. Vulture had managed to tear the web off his face just in time to see Spider-Man's fist connect to his face.

Vulture recoiled in the air and shot his razor tipped feathers, _Ok either I let those things hit me, doge them and let them fly into the crowd, or, better yet, stop them. _Jason thought as he shot webs at the ends of the feathers as they passed him.

Spider-Man let them fall into the water surrounding the ring as Vulture threw more of them up towards the glass ceiling, shattering it and flying through the hole it created. "Oh no you don't! Not this time you old crow!" he shouted as he attacked a web to his feet. The two flew through the ceiling and into the night air, the Arena getting farther and father away below them.

Ahask turned his head back to see the masked teen climbing up the web towards him, "Don't you give up!" he shouted as he slashed the web with his wings. Thinking quickly, Spider-Man shot two webs at his wings and pulled himself to him with his legs outstretched.

_If I could, I'd hit the guy harder, but given his age I don't want to kill him accidentally._ Jason thought as he vaulted over his shoulders and wrapped his legs around his back. _Hello, what's this?_ the teen thought as he looked at the back of the old man's back. "Get off me!" he shouted as he tried to shake him off.

"Not gonna work with me egghead." he stated as he looked at the back of the suit. On the back where small ports on the side of his 'hump' that blew out air, on the top of the mass was a rapidly rotating turbine. "Ohhhh, I get it! You filter the air through the back and it helps you take off, the wings must control the suit then." he said as he gripped the outline I the suit and pulled the feathers off.

The two rise into the air aimlessly, "are you insane! If we keep going up we'll run out of oxygen!" Ahask shouted in panic.

"Ok first off, your the insane one who stole a high tech suit and tried to kill your boss with it." Spider-Man said as he shot webbing into the turbine. "Second, I'm smarter than I look." The two began to plummet back towards the stadium, crashing through the glass ceiling, "And third and most important," he sprayed two webs to either side of him.

"I can kinda fly." he said as they hung in the air. Connecting the two webs together, he held the line with one hand before webbing up Ahask in the other, "You can't do this! I need my revenge! I dedicated my entire life to that company!" he declared.

Jason webbed down beside him upside down, "So that makes it right to kill the guy's daughter? Your more postal than I thought you where if that's the case." he said before webbing his mouth shut.

…

It took a bit of doing, but Jason managed to slip back into the supply closet where he changed in without notice. The teen met up with Xang and company outside the arena as police started taking statements, "Jason where were you? You missed it!" he said as he gripped the young hero's shoulders.

"I got out of the bathroom when it happened, I got to one of the higher levels and watched the whole thing." he lied. But Xang bought it so it did just fine.

"Man I thought he was gonna drop her." Kong said.

Xang waved it off, "Spider-Man would never let that happen." he said confidently.

As the two carried on, Jason saw the police talking to Hiroshi along with his daughter, she looked no worse for wear but she was still a bit startled to say the least. She was clinging to her father's side as he talked to Detective Wei. When they were done, he noticed Jason and gave him a wave.

Jason gave a excuse to his friends and joined Wei, "So what was that you where saying about him just leaving the company?" he asked the detective.

Wei rubbed the back of his head and gave a smirk, "Well you didn't say anything about him having a fricking wing suit either so we both missed it...guess you got your story then huh?" he asked.

Jason nodded, "Yep. Pretty much do thanks to Spider-Man...so what do you guys think of him?" the teen asked, wanting to know if he's at least a little appreciated at the police station.

"Personally? I think he's not the worst guy in the world. As for my colleges...well it's kind of a split." he explained. The masked man was a very talked about subject at the precinct, but depending who you talk too he can be spoken of either way.

Jason felt a bit relived at the knowledge that not everyone on the police force hated him. "Well I guess that's better than him having everyone on the police want his head on their wall." he stated, getting a nod from the detective.

"Pretty much, look kid I gotta go. I'll see ya around." he said, giving the teen a wave as he went to escort Vulture to the police van.

…

"You are a lucky bastard. You know that?" Whitney said as Jason finished typing his article. The teen couldn't help but smile at his fellow report's unique type of praise.

"Language Whitney." he stated simply. He finished his paper and handed it to her, "Here, peace offering. You can give it to Stan." he offered. Whitney snatched the paper from him with a pout and immediately went to Stan's office. "She is such a five year old." he muttered.

…

Spider-Man swung down the street from his home, landing on a lamppost near a newsstand, he webbed a paper from the stack and then shot a web with twenty Yuans in it at the countertop. The teen read the front page:

**Spider-Man vs. Vulture at pro bending arena!**

Jason smiled under his mask, the photo on front was of him crouching on the webline with Ahask under him, hanging by a thread. "The picture doesn't capture his crazy as best he can." he stated before attaching a web below the league of a building and swinging away, the paper in hand.

**AN: And another one down! Man I'm on a roll. So done of you may know Kong from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series, Lee is a new one, and Vulture is well...Vulture still. **

**Thank you for reading the newest chapter and I hole that your all enjoying the story.**

**I appreciate it greatly when people leave reviews, and when I see all the people who read. So thank you all for reading and I'll see you guys next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Agni Kai Attack

It had been a few weeks since the whole Vulture affair. And since then Spider-Man had become a household name all around Republic City. But that didn't mean that it was always something good said about him, it was almost like the city had split on their idea of what Spider-Man was, a hero or menace.

"My guess is that he's horribly disfigured under his mask." Long said as he, Xang, and Lee looked down at the paper with a picture of the wall crawler swinging through the air with a triad in his grasp looking down at the ground in terror.

Xang shook his head, "Nah he probably has a bad scar or something across his face. I mean look at all the people he fights. Guy must have a ton of them." he stated, thinking of all the fights he read about the costumed hero had been in.

Jason rolled his eyes as the three carried on beside him while he ate his lunch. _Some people just make the craziest ideas_. The teen thought as the three jocks carried on.

Contrary to what they thought, Jason didn't have many, if any, scars because of his healing powers. Just a week ago he revived a nasty cut from a waterbender that was already healed by today. No trace of a scar at all,

Jason has been working non-stop, every day after school he went on a short patrol around the city before heading to work. After that he went on another patrol around the city before heading home for the evening.

As the teen finished up his food, dumped it in the trash before heading towards to doors to the cafeteria.

Only for the door to wham him in the face as someone entered. _Oh seriously! Well on the bright side that woke me up_. Jason thought as he sat up on the floor clutching his bloody nose. "Ow..." he muttered as he held his nose in his hand.

"Oh crap! I am so sorry." the voice said quickly and with concern. Jason looked up and for once, he didn't have a cheesy line to say, not a smart ass comeback, or anything, only a dry throat and speechlessness at the girl before him.

She had fair skin, wore a long sleeve shirt that was red in the chest but the selves and shoulders where black with a small black hood. She had a pair of dark black jeans and red tenner shoes that covered her legs.

But what caught Jason's eyes was her hair, it was black as night itself but had red tips on the end of it. Her dark blue eyes made the vigilante stare back into them with his hand on his nose and not sure what in the world to say.

"I...umm...well..." Jason said aimlessly. He had not talked with many since he hit puberty, he blamed that on a bad birds and bees talk with Ava. But the teen had a knack for being shy around girls his age, only reason that Spider-Man can do it is because the mask helps him feel more secure about himself when he talks to them.

_Too bad I don't have my mask on now._ The teen thought as she bent down to his level, "I'm ok." Jason said, suddenly aware of the fact that a girl was checking in on him.

She raised a eye, "Says the guy with a bloody nose. I didn't accidentally hit your head too did I?" she asked with a small smile. Jason suddenly realized that his nose was bleeding, _Oh yeah, sure why not?_ he thought as he stood up, the girl along with him.

The two stayed like that for a moment, him holding his nose in one hand with blood leaking out it, and her looking at him with a small smile tugging on her lips, "So you gonna ask my name or what?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

Jason's eyes widened, "Well...I was actually planning on walking away awkwardly while holding my nose my nose like this." he said, pointing to his hand covering his bleeding body part.

The girl flashed Jason her pearly white teeth briefly, "So a girl opens a door, gives you a bloody nose, and you'd just walk away. Even if they didn't stop?" she questioned skeptically at the teen's reasoning.

"I'm not sexist. I'd do the same thing if it were a man." Jason joked, feeling more confident with himself as the two teens talked more.

A snort escaped from the girl, "Well that's good to know. Though I guess I should know the name of the guy I ran down on my way to lunch." she said, asked for the stranger's name in her own way.

"Jason, Jason O-rou." the teen said with a smile.

The girl smiled, "See that wasn't so hard. See you around Jason." she said walking past him and on her way to get her lunch. _Wait, isn't this the part when she tells me her name? _Jason thought as he watched her get in line to eat.

Jason exited the cafeteria , his hand still clutching his nose and his mind still on the mystery girl.

…

Spider-Man cartwheeled out of the way of a fire sweep from one of the men he was currently fighting. A few triad members thought it would be a good idea to try and firebomb a apartment building. They didn't expect Spider-Man to show up.

The teen sprayed webbing into the hands of the firebender, stopping him long enough to deliver fist to gut. _One down, two to go. Good thing too, I gotta get to work_. Jason thought as he fired webs at the two and pulled them towards him. _Well technically I am at work already, but I mean like the job that does not involve me putting myself in danger. _he thought as he did a split kick to the two men.

He stuck them to the ground with some webbing, finishing the fight. "Now I'm happy that we has this exercise today, I think we've all made some good progress today but we got to cut this session short I'm afraid." he said as he strung the three up on a street lamp.

The masked teen was about to swing away when he felt a tug at his leg. Spider-Man looked down to see a little boy smiling like no tomorrow, "Hi." he said, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Hey there little man. What's up?" the teen asked, kneeling down to the child's level.

"Are you really the Spider guy?" the boy asked, his eyes not believing what he was seeing.

Jason smiled under his mask, "Yep. That's me. What's your name then?" The costumed teen asked the young man.

The child felt like he was dreaming, he was talking to Spider-Man, The Spider-Man! It's not everyday that a person liked him asks a for a child's name. "A-Aden, that's my name Spider-Man." he said with a stutter of excitement.

"Nice to meet you Aden. And please, call me Spidey." he said, dropping the semi-formal title. "So what's a tough guy like yourself doing out here huh?" he asked, "It's not exactly safe." he said, pointing to the men hanging by the webline on the lamp post.

"I um...thank you...for saving my home." he said shyly.

Jason smiled as he ruffled the kid's hair, "No problem little man. Now when the police show up, be sure to tell them what you saw. Alright?" the teen asked , getting a nod out of the boy.

The teen gave him a two finger salute before jumping into the air and shooting a web to the awning of a building and swinging away towards the Marvel. The boy saluted back as the hero swung away from him.

…

Jason's fingers hit the keys of his typewriter lazily. He felt exhausted, his nose was still throbbing from his meeting with the door earlier that day. The teen thought about the girl he ran into as well, _And I don't even know her name. Great start O-rou, you finally talk to a nice girl and you don't even learn her name._ the teen thought.

"What the hell happened to you?" Jason looked up to see Whitney with two cups of coffee. _I love you Whitney_. Jason thought as he eyed the coffee. The reporter noticed his staring and pulled it out of his reach, "Spill first, drink later, how'd you get your nose like that?" she asked with curiously and concern.

"I fought a door and lost. Now give me the coffee before I get violent." he said, not the least bit threateningly. _I think I may becoming a addict_. He thought as he was handed the coffee, and thinking back to the three others he had throughout the day.

"So whose the girl your thinkin of?" Whitney asked nonchalantly.

Jason nearly choked on his drink, "I-I...wait how the hell did you know I was thinking about a girl?" the teen asked.

Whitney grinned, "Oh I didn't. Until just now that is." she said cockily. She grew up with three brothers, she knew what the look on a teen's face was when they thought of girls. Jason's cheeks turned rose red, "And the blushing confirms it. So who is she?"

Jason sighed and leaned back into his chair, "I don't know her name. But she's kinda the reason for my nose." he said, pointing to the bruising on his nose. It already was almost healed though so it wasn't too painful now.

"I didn't figure you as a guy who likes it that rough." Whitney said cheekily.

Jason sunk behind his desk, his face completely red. _Kill me now. Kill me now. Kill me now. Kill me now!_ The teen though in a mantra. "Whitney." both her and the teen's head turned the editor's office where Stan was signaling her to come.

Jason watched as she walked to the office, sipping on his coffee and getting started on his assigned article. _Well that's one way to avoid a awkward conversation._ The teen thought, taking a sip of the caffeine laced drink.

After a few minutes, Whitney reemerged from the office with the meanest look on her face that Jason had ever seen. "Whitney what's up?" he asked with genuine concern as she grabbed her bag and coat from the chair.

"Goddamn triads. They burned a kid's face so bad that they..." she started, her face looking down at her desk and not the teen's eyes. "They burned his face so bad that he can't see out one of his eyes...and he may lose the other." she said, making the teen stare at her with wide eyes.

"W-what's the kid's name?" he asked. _There's no way it could be-_

"Adan. His name is Adan...they saw him talking to Spider-Man and they..." she swallowed hard, "I'm going to go see him and see if he can't give a description of his attacker." she explained.

_All because...all because he talked to me?!_ "Which triad?" The teen asked with blood boiling in his veins, _I'm gonna rip them apart limb from limb. Then we'll see how they like hurting kids_. The vigilante thought as he rose and joined her at the elevator.

"Agni Kai...why do you want to know?" she asked, easing a cautious eye.

"Because I'm going to get Spider-Man to beat the shit out of them." he answered as the doors closed.

…

Spider-Man leapt off his webline and flew through the air, attaching another one to a building, he pulled himself up to the ledge of a building and took off running. He had been busy all day trying to find out who burned the kid. And had left almost twenty of the Agni Kai with broken bones and left for the police.

The last man he had caught was telling his other friends about a upper member that was bragging about a kid. Braving about it. Like some damn trophy! Jason thought as he swung over rooftops towards Diamond Borough. The vigilante sprayed a web to the side of a building and pulled himself onto the wall and slid down the side towards the alley below.

Across the building he was on was well established bar, it was a known Agni Kai hangout.

The back was guarded by a single triad member. Spider-Man dropped right in front of him, "I'm here for the mutt that burned the kid." he said, trying to control his anger but failing. The man tried to blast him with fire at his crouching position but the masked hero back flipped up to the side of a building, "Wong answer!" he yelled as he pounced and kicked the man straight through the door and knocking over one of the tables inside.

The masked teen stepped through the door as all eyes turned to him, "If your not a Agni Kai member. Get out now!" he called throughout the bar. Five people out of the twenty five left throughout the door in a hurry. "Ok. Which one of you bastards burned the face of a kid?"

One man stood from his seat in a clarinet table, he was big, not big as in muscular but big as in...well size to be polite, "That was me? So wha-" Spider-Man leapt across the bar and drove his fist into his teeth, breaking them in the process. "GWAAHHHH!" the man cried out as the rest of the room came to life.

Spider-Man webbed the man into the seat, trap pining him so that he couldn't run off. The vigilante flung himself off the table he landed on, and feet connected to the faces of two men, snapping their jaws out of place. A waterbender sent a slice of water from the drinks at his center mass, Jason flipped towards the man, avoiding the water and spraying webs on a table .

When he landed, he pulled his hands forward over his shoulder and sent the table crashing into the bartender. Two more men came at him from both his left and right, the young hero pressed down on the web shooter buttons and sprayed webbing to their heads and slammed them down to the floor.

"Roast his ass!" One of the men exclaimed. Two men made a cartwheel of fire that rolled across the room, scorching the floor and raising the temperature a few degrees. Jason web grabbed a table and put it in front of him to block the fire. The resulting blast sent the teen crashing into the bar.

The vigilante rose from the crushed wood, "That hurt." he said simply before sprayed the firebender to the wall. Three men broke off the legs of a table and swung then at the teen, Spider-Man ducked under one of the swings, only to be smacked in the face by another one's makeshift club.

Spider-Man threw his fists into two of the men's gullets, they both clutched their wounded body parts in agony as the young hero jumped in the air and preformed a split kick on their faces, sending them to the floor. The third one had gotten two others to join in, Spider-Man jumped towards them and delivered a open palm strike to the faces of two of the men while he planted his foot to the third's face in midair.

The teen landed on one foot and cartwheeled into another man, bringing the heel of his shoe down ontop of his head. The rest of the occupants of the bar backed away, "Screw this! Let's get outta here!" one of them said, the rest seemed to agree since the remaining men ran out the front and back doors.

Well...that happened. Jason thought as he approached the man still webbed to his seat. The man was sweating bullets, "You think I'm scared of you? You think that a little punk like you can scare me!" he asked, his voice slightly cracking.

Spider-Man leaned in until he was eye to lens with the man, "No. I know your scared of me." he said before knocking the man out.

…

The man creaked open his eyes, "Uggg, what the hell?" he asked when he found himself outside. Meh didn't remember anything after the bar, "Wait! Where's-"

"Right here." The man looked over to see Spider-Man crouching on all fours right beside him. He tried to scramble away from the masked teen but found himself immobilized, "I wouldn't do that. Unless you want to fall to your death."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" the man asked. Spider-Man pointed upwards silently. The man looked up and paled, "O-O-Oh my God!"

They where hanging upside down on Harmony Tower.

"It's a bit dramatic but I think it gets my point across wonderfully." The spider powered teen said as the man's jaw dropped, "Now, I was hearing this awful rumor about you nearly burning off a child's face. Is it true?" he asked, grabbing the webline that held the man upside-down.

The man's eyes where nearly bulging out his skull, "Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes! It was me! I'm sorry ok!" he said, starting to sob.

Jason sneered under his mask before striking him across the face with his fist, "And what the hell made you do that!" he screamed at the man, making him start to shake. _You better be scared asshole._ Jason thought before hitting him again, "Tell me!"

"It was my boss! He told me to send you a message! One of our guys heard what you said to him, so he thought he'd make a statement. He was losing respect, so he thought-"

"Shut it!" Spider-Man yelled. _So this big shot thinks he can just be the puppet master? Thinks he's invincible? Think again. _"Who's your boss?" he asked the man.

He shook his head, "No way man, he'll kill me!"

Enough of this bullshit! Jason thought as he grabbed the man by the collar, "And what the hell makes you think I won't do anything worse to you? Now let me say this so even a dumbass like you can understand. Give me a name, where he is, and what time he'll be there." he demanded.

The man gulped, "He...he...his name's Ryuu Fugi. He's at the Blue Dragon Hotel, he never leaves unless it's important." he said in defeat. _Ok, I got a name, now I can find and nail this asshole...but he could just be giving me name so I'll leave him alone. _

_Or that could be what this guy calls him, the triads are more cleaver the higher up you go. But I know just the person to talk to._ Jason thought as he ripped the man out of the webbing, making the man scream out.

"Shut it." he said, webbing the man's mouth shut. Dropping him towards the ground, he watched as the thug fell towards the ground. At the last minute, he sprayed a webline at the man and stopped him from falling to death.

The teen descended down by web until they where side by side again, "Tell the police what you told me when you see them. Or I'll drop you from the top of the tower next time." he said before shooting a web to one of the legs of the tower and pulling himself away from the thug whose pants were now wet.

…

_Just what I was looking for! _the teen thought as he landed on a phone booth. The costumed teen crawled into it, put in a quarter, and dialed Whitney Chang's number. _"Mmmph, hello?"_ Whitney asked on the other end of the line.

"Miss. Chang? This is Spider-Man." Jason said, he heard the woman on the other side of the line groan.

_"Look if your another prankster I'll call the police, I swear to god-"_ she started.

How many of these calls does she get? "One second I'll prove it." the costumed hero said.

Whitney hung up on the phone. The reporter had just gotten back from the hospital and she was nearly heartbroken. The kid was going to be fine but the one eye was damaged beyond repair. "I swear I'm gonna rip those bastards a new asshole when they find them."

"I kinda beat you to it." Whitney jumped at the voice, she looked to where it came from and her jaw nearly dropped.

Spider-Man himself was outside her window tapping on the glass. "Can you open the window? I feel a little like a creep doing this to a reflection of myself." he said as Whitney ran over and opened the window without hesitation.

"H-how are you doing that!" Whitney asked as she looked out to the side of the building and at the wall crawler.

"Full disclosure? I got no fricking idea. I just do." he said with a shrug. _I honestly think it has something to with electrons and charges but...meh, who cares, I stick to walls. That's just how it is_. the hero thought.

Whitney shook her head, "Is this like a interview or something?" she asked.

The teen shook his head, "Not exactly. I kinda need info on someone in the Agni Kai." He explained to the reporter.

Whitney's eyes widened, "Sure! I mean of course. What so you need?" she asked, willing to help the vigilante. _Wow that was easy_.

"Ryuu Fugi. Tell me all you know about him." Spider-Man demanded.

Whitney's eyes widened, "He's the alleged leader of the Agni Kai triad. What do you have on him?" she asked.

Jason couldn't help bit smirk under his mask, "Not much. Except for involvement in hurting Aden." he explained, "Jason O-rou told me about him...is he..." he explained once seeing her confused face. He really hoped the child was ok. He had enough guilt on his conscious.

Whitney smiled, "He's fine. He'll be glad to hear his hero's worried about him ." she said. Hero...first time that someone's called me that before. _Well besides the paper but there was menace in the same sentence so it doesn't hold a lot of merit_. the teen thought. "Is that all? Because I'd hate to do this Spidy but I need my shut eye...maybe you should get some too." she added once seeing how he was slouching.

Jason had been going on pure adrenaline for the past few hours. And he knew that soon he would run out of it, I'll go after Ryuu tomorrow, _I'll get some rest, lick my wounds, metaphorically speaking, and them go after the asshole_. he thought. "Yeah. Probably should. See ya around Miss. Chang." he said, attaching a web to the wall opposite of Whitney's and detaching himself from the building.

…

Jason sat in his seat on the outside table at school. He had a free period and he decided that some time outside wouldn't do him any harm. He was sore from yesterday but by tonight he'd be ready for whatever Ryuu can throw at him. "Holy crap. I didn't think the door hit you that bad." the teen looked up to see the same girl from yesterday with a hand covering her mouth with surprise. But she also had a amusing look in her eyes.

Jason shook his head, "Actually this is from when I got mugged after school later that day." he lied, causing the girl to wince at his story. _It's not like I can just tell her I got them beating up bad guys_. the teen thought as she sat down across from him.

Jason sat himself up straight in response, "You have a lot of days like that?" she asked, not really curiously but more sarcastically and joking.

Jason shook his head, "Not really. But I do get beat up quiet often." he stated rather truthfully. _In fact for the past month or so I've gotten beaten up almost every day_.

The girl looked at the boy. He had a thoughtful look in his eye, like he had something that was eating his guts out. "So what's with the long face? You look like someone kicked your dog of something." she said, making the boy chuckle.

"No, I don't have any pets to suffer from abuse...a kid I know got hurt badly. And because of it...he's hurt for life." he explained, trying to avoid the more graphic details of what happened. It was hard for him to listen too, and in his short career as Spider-Man he'd seen some gnarly stuff.

She faltered a moment, "Oh...is he..."

"He's alive. But...yeah...and looking back...I could have done something to stop it but...I didn't see it at the time." he could have made sure those men where out cold. He could have tied them up farther away from where he talked to him at...he could have done something different. Jason looked down at the table, not being able to meet the girl's eyes.

"Akiko."

Jason looked up at the girl, "What?" he asked as the girl rose from the table.

She gave him a smile, "My name. I didn't tell you yesterday, my name is Akiko Rupa. My friends call me Aki." she explained as she held her hand out to the guy, After the bad day he had yesterday, _I think he deserves a little something to brighten his day._ she thought to herself.

Jason stood and took it, "Does that mean we're friends?" he asked weakly. _Never had a friend that's a girl before...and thinking that out loud just makes it sound all the more sad_. he thought to himself.

She bit her lip, thinking of her answer. After a moment she released her lip and shrugged, "Why not?" she said, "You eaten yet? I think it may be safer for the both of us of we went into the cafe true together so I don't hit your face again." she said jokingly.

Jason smiled at Akiko. "Sure. Lead the way." he said as he bent down to grab his book bag before walking with her towards the lunch room.

…

Spider-Man swung over the streets of Republic City's Diamond Borough, with both the confession of the man he left on Harmony Tower and Whitney Chang's confirmation, he had no doubt in his mind that Ryuu was the man he was looking for.

Shooting a web to the nearest by building, he passed over the streets towards The Blue Dragon Hotel. The teen attached himself to the top floor's widow, "Ok, big building. So. If I was a crime lord, where would I go?" he asked himself.

He was blown from the side of the building.

Spider-Man went flying away from the building a few feet, the masked hero shot a web to the building and pulled himself back to the now destroyed window, Ask a stupid question right? Jason thought.

The room is, or rather was, a luxury suite that was richly decorated. At the end of the room was a man with bright red hair, scarlet suit and pants, and Amber eyes, "Let me guess. Ryuu Fugi?" Spider-Man asked.

The man straightened his tie, "Yes. I must admit, I thought I had all my on a firm enough leash not to spill who I am." he explained as he cracked his neck from side to side.

"So I guess you run a kennel alongside the triad then ?" Spider-Man said as he got into a fighting position. Before he could attack, Ryuu made a flame in his hand. But instead of normal red, it was blue. Ok...that's a neat trick.

"What? You thought I named this place the Blue Dragon for no reason?" he asked. "You've been a pain in my ass since you first showed up. So I think it's better I deal with this matter...personally." he said as kicked his shoes off, and took off his jacket before rolling up his sleeves.

He swung his leg out, making a arcing fire fly towards Spider-Man, he jumped to the ceiling with one hand and swung his body around the flames, avoiding them only to be kicked down with a kick to his gullet. The teen let out a grunt as he landed on the shouldering remains of the bed, "Uggh, and I thought this was a five star joint. These beds suck." he said, rising and narrowly dogging a blast that was aimed for his mask.

Spider-Man shot a web at Ryuu's chest and pulled himself to the firebender, when he was close enough, he swung his leg and connected to the side of the man's head. Before he could fallow up, Ryuu encased his fist with fire and hit the young hero on the side of his face, burning off a part of his mask, exposing his mouth.

Jason pushed himself off the firebender and flipped through the air, landing on his feet. "Heh, your pretty good. How long you been doing this?" Ryuu asked as the teen wiped the ash from his mouth.

"Long enough to know how to do this!" he exclaimed as he charged at the man, Ryuu readied himself by spreading his legs apart and conjured fire in both his hands. As Spider-Man neared, he unleashed the roar of fire he built up at the teen.

Jason smiled, he threw his legs out and slid under the man as the blaze went over his head. When he stopped behind the man, he jumped back towards the man and grabbed the back of his jean and slammed his head into the floor, "That was for the kid you ordered to be burned." he said as he landed on his feet.

The man slowly pulled his head up from the splintered floor, "Wha-what the hell was that?" he asked, pulling a splinter out of his face. He had never seen a fighting style like that before, and he studied almost all forms of fire bending.

"Like it? I always used my super strength to take out baddies, but I figure I can use others to take you guys down." he said with a cocky grin. Ryuu stood from the ground and blasted fireballs at the young hero.

Spider-Man rolled out of the way and jumped onto the wall and then launched himself at the man, fists outward and connected them with his face, sending him into the remains of a table. "Aw, do you got another splinter?" Spider-Man mocked.

Ryuu was angry, _No way this is happening. No way I'm losing to a little whimp like this one! No way! _Ryuu thought as he blindly ran towards the costumed teenager. As the man reached Jason, the masked hero grabbed his shirt and threw him over his shoulders and towards the window, "Oh crap!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

The man flew out the window, thinking fast, Jason dove after him, attaching a web to the floor of the apartment and shot the other end of it at Ryuu's foot, making him stop in his fall. "Don't want you to go splat before your trail." Spider-Man explained as he crawled up next to him.

The firebender looked at the web head with a agitated look on his face, "You think this makes you a hero? Ha! I'll just be walking out of the courthouse the day I go in." he said cockily.

Jason webbed the man's arms and legs so that if he mad a fire, he'd burn the webbing that held him on the side of the building. Jason grabbed him by his collar, "You ordered someone to burn a child. A little kid. You think you can just walk away from that?" he asked, the smirk on his face disappeared.

H-how much does this guy know? Ryuu thought as the grip on his collar tightened. "No. You are going to rot in prison. You'll never be free again. And if by some miracle you get out, I'll track you down and throw you right back in there." he said, making the man start to sweat, "You thought that you where untouchable. Your not. Now the only reason that your still alive is because I think in your case, you'll be locked up for the rest of your life. So you better pray to whatever god you believe in that you do not get out."

Ryuu's throat was dry, "I'll take your silence as 'I understand'. When you see any friends of yours, tell them that from here on out, Spider-Man is the one they should look out for." he said, standing on the wall fully before shooting a webline to a building and jumping off. Leaving the Agni Kai's leader with a clear picture of what awaited him.

…

"So how's it going Adan?" Whitney asked Adan, the child was actually doing very well, he was sad that he couldn't use his one eye, but he got to wear a cool eyepatch so it wasn't all that bad.

"I feel good today Miss. Whitney. What are you doing here?" the young child asked. It had been a few days since his injury and he was healing as well as the doctors expected.

The woman smiled at the kid, "They found the guy who hurt you sweetie. And he's not getting out of jail anytime soon." she said, making the boy smile. Served the son of a bitch right. Who'd have guessed something like this would lead to the fall of the Agni Kai triad? she thought as the door opened to show one of the nurses.

"Umm...there's a note for Adan outside." she said, pointing to the window. Adan stood out of bed and walked to the window and tried to look out but was too short.

"Here sweetie." Whitney, said, hoisting the child up so he could see what was left for him.

Outside was a web, in woven into it was a note from Spider-Man:

**Get well soon little man. **

**Your pal, Spider-Man.**

The boy's eye widened, "That is soooo cool!" he exclaimed. The nurse and Whitney smiling at he boy's joy.

Jason smiled under his repaired mask at the boy's window. _One down. Two to go._ he thought as the autumn wind breezed through the air. He shot a web to a building and swung away from the hospital, leaving the boy to enjoy his little gift.

…

A man in a green thresh coat looked down on Republic City from one of the sky scrappers, "So, this is Spider-Man's prowling grounds. Couldn't ask for this to be any more in my favor." he said.

He had a green jumpsuit on under his coat, with yellow lightning bolts across the back, around the waist, and down the sides of his pants. He was bald, with tattoos of lighting blots going over his scalp and ending at his eyes that had a spark of amusement in them, "Time to fry a Spider."

**AN: so know the Agni Kai are in LoK , but the only ones that are really gone into depth is the Triple Threats since they're the biggest of the triads. I'll have a familiar gang replace then by the time the show timeline comes along.**

**So Akiko is a new character I introduced, she is not a stand in for Mary Jane, or Gwen Stacy, or any other one of Pete's early love interests. She's going to have her own backstory and such later on.**

**Now consider this chapter the end of Act I, I'm thinking that there will be maybe around 6 or 7, all varying in length. This isn't set in stone so it may be longer of shorter than you expect. **

**Thank you all for reading, I already have a idea for my next chapter, if you want you can leave a review but just the fact that you've read it makes it all the better. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

Enter Electro

"So when you add this element with this one, what do you get?" Jason asked, pointing into Xang's notebook. Xang had asked him to help him study for chemistry after school today. Next week is exam week and it was playing hell on the jock's nerves, so Jason was more than happy to agree to help him. Right now he was teaching him about elements and compounds.

"Ummm...iron?" Xang guessed. _Please be right, please be right, please be right._ he inwardly pleaded. Jason was smarter than him and he knew that, but at least he wasn't stronger than him, right? Jason looked over his notes on the dining table for a few minutes, making Xang's palms start sweating, "For spirit's sake tell me!" he said, shaking the teen's shoulders.

Jason couldn't stop himself from laughing, "You did fine, not get off me before I kick you out." he said, pulling his hands off him. Xang let out a sigh of relief, "If you keep going like this, you may just pass with a few flying colors." Jason said as he went to the refrigerator and grabbed a drink of soda for his guest.

_I'm pretty surprised that I've been able to keep my grades like they have been. With me and my nightly patrols it's amazing I can stay awake in class_. The teen thought as he handed his friend a drink, "So, remind me again why you couldn't do this with Lee or Kong." he said as he retook his seat.

Xang shrugged, "Lee is preoccupied with his girlfriend and helping her study. And Kong's smarter than you think since he studies like non-stop. You should see him, it's like winding up a toy and just watching it go." he said, reminding him as a younger him. "So you really never had a girlfriend?" he asked skeptically.

Jason rolled his eyes, Xang hadn't let up on him since he learned about the teen's relationship status; never had a girlfriend. "We aren't all big beefy jocks Xang." he replied simply. _Although I am a new fan of Pro-Bending, it's violent, doesn't involve pain on my part, and I get to watch with junk food. _he thought.

Xang gave him a ridiculous look, "Dude. You must be the only guy in the class who has a apartment all to yourself!" he said, gesturing to the entire room.

"I don't think your getting the whole concept I'm thinking of. I want a happy relationship. As in talking, expressing our feelings, and telling each other about what we think. Not just a relationship that hinges on if I'm...applicable in bed." he said awkwardly, talking about sex is embarrassing enough, talking about it a guy? That makes it even more so.

"Did you just use the word applicable in a sentence about sex?" Xang asked.

"Don't judge me."

…

"He has absolutely no room to judge me! Applicable is a reasonable thing to say about a situation such as that." Jason said to himself as he swung over the streets of the city. After Xang left he decided he had a few hours before he was needed at work so a quick patrol around the city wouldn't hurt. The teen shot a web further down the street and kicked his feet out at the last moment to get more airtime.

Landing onto a rooftop, he folded his arms and began to walk, "I mean so what if I don't have a girlfriend? It's not a big deal. I mean mom didn't have a boyfriend...since he left." Jason's father was something that was never talked about in his home. It wasn't that she didn't like talking about him so much that it was forbidden of anything.

But he abandoned them the day Jason was born. And he wasn't too interested in learning much about him, he didn't even know what his name was, "Wonder if the asshole even cares Mom's dead..." he wondered out loud. The sound of a excision shook the thoughts out of his head, "Oh great, that's actually just what I need to take my mind off the deadbeat." he said before jumping off the building.

The teen attached a webs to two of the buildings on the other side of the street, when he dropped past the places the webs where at, the webbing stretched, building tension and shot him into the air towards the site of the explosion.

Landing on a flagpole, he looked down at the scene below. The street was in chaos, everyone was running away from the explosions of cars that echoed down the end of the street, "I don't suppose their all running to her ice cream or something. Of they are, I'm gonna be annoyed." Jason said as he jumped from the post and swung down the street.

The teen landed right in the middle of the street, in front of him were the remains of the cars that exploded. But no one in sight, "Look pal, I don't know why did you did it, but if you come out and talk about it, I'm sure we can just forget about-" he was cut off when he saw a bolt of lightning come right at him from above.

Thinking quickly, the teen flipped backwards out of the way of the highly charged plasma, "Hey! I was talking! It's rude to interrupt someone with a lightning bolt to the face!" he said, shaking his just menacingly to where the attack originated from. _Ok lightning...that's new_. the teen thought to himself.

From the rooftop emerged a man in a green jumpsuit with yellow lightning bolts running across various parts of his body. He had a tattoo of lighting blots going over his bald scalp to his face and back of his neck, "I'll be honest. I didn't think there was a man alive who can doge that well." he said, jumping off the building.

Before Spider-Man could do anything, the man shot blots of lightning to the ground through his feet, slowing his decent, "Ok yep, that's pretty cool I'll give you that." he said as the man landed, "So who are you? No wait! Let me guess, Zapper?" he guessed.

The man cracked his knuckles, sending sparks to the ground, "Actually, I like Electro better. Has a nice ring to it." he said before firing another bolt at the hero. Spider-Man was quick and cartwheeled himself out of the way, he jumped over to a lamppost and swung around it as Electro unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts.

Swinging off the post as lightning hit it, Spider-Man attached a web to building that Electro was on moments ago and pulled himself towards the electric powered man, "Sorry I gotta say this, Lights-" he oust reached his leg and kicked the smiling man in his chest.

It was like sticking a fork in a outlet.

"GEEEAHHHHHA!" Spider-Man yelled as he was flung back into a Sato mobile. "Ok...that hurt, immensely." the young hero muttered as he pulled himself out of the wreckage. He pushed himself off the car and fell to the ground, _Ok, let's see how he likes my webbing_. Jason thought as Electro walked over to him.

When he was arm's length away, Sider-Man sprayed him with webbing from head to toe. "Try getting out of that one lightbulb brain." he said.

"As you wish."

Sparks began to flare into small flames, _Uh oh_. Jason thought right before the webs exploded, making him jump back and landed onto a lamppost. Electro smiled up at the costumed teen. "What was that you where saying brat?" he asked.

_This is starting to look very bad_. Jason thought, _How the hell do I beat a guy I can't touch? _The teen wondered while he charged up another blast in his left hand. _Wait...I may not have to beat him. Just short him out...this is gonna hurt._ Jason thought as he attached a webline to the light on the post and jumped towards Electro.

Spider-Man attached the web to Electro's chest, then another to another to another lamppost, completing the circuit. Jason was blown away from the resulting blast into the side of a building. Electro let put a wail of pain as he burned the webs off him. "That...was...unpleasant." Electro said, grinding his teeth and biting down the pain.

_I think I cracked a few ribs_. Jason thought, "Next time I see you bug, I'm gonna fry you to a crisp." he said before making a orb of electricity around him and levitating himself away. _Ok yep, I may be a little outmatched_. Jason thought as he clutched his damaged ribs.

…

"Electro?" Whitney asked unbelievingly, Jason had arrived at the Marvel and told Whitney why he had been late today. "I don't believe it...I remember him!" she said, remembering where the named had come from.

Jason raised a eyebrow, looking up from his typewriter. His ribs hurt like crazy but a application of webbing make the area feel more comfortable at least. "What? Was he like a boyfriend of yours or something?" he asked, earning a smack by a newspaper.

"No smartass. He used to work over at the power plant. He worked maintenance on one of the machines that gather electricity, but he went in at the start of the workday, he was inside one of the machines when they started shooting lighting into them and...well you saw what happened." she said, recalling the story as she sat in her seat.

Yeah, and felt it. Jason thought, "So what happened to him? I mean I never heard of him until today." he stated. He's pretty sure he would have remembered that particular headline while he worked here.

"It was a few years ago, before I even came here. I'm surprised I was able to remember really." she explained. "That's all I heard about him. After that, nothing." she said, getting back to typing about her article.

_Next time I go up against Electro, I need to think of something better than draining him. But what am I gonna do? Make a suit completely out of rubber? Actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea, a few firebenders can make lightning, and more protection would be nice._ Jason thought as he went back to work.

…

Jason sat in his chair later that day while he taped his ribs with medical tape, "Gah! Man I wish I had better healing powers." Jason muttered as he wrapped the tape around his chest cavity. _I may have as idea of how to handle Electro next time I see him, but I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to get what I need. _the teen thought as he stood from his seat.

"Until them, I'm not going to beat any supervillans if I'm too tired to stand." he said as he entered the bedroom and eased himself onto the bed. Supervillans, my life is a comic book of something, isn't it? the teen asked himself as he eased himself into bed and getting a well deserved nap.

…

"Oh please daddy? Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles and carmel on top?" Ikki pleaded to her father. Her, Meelo, and her sister Jinora had overheard her mother and father discussing what they could go do in the city tomorrow. And since they hardly, if ever, leave Air Temple Island, they where asking to go with them.

Tenzin folded his arms firmly across his chest, "I'm sorry kids, but with everything going on in the city right now I'm nervous enough taking your mother there, I don't want to put you three in danger as well." he said, making the kids' heads hang low.

Pema gave her husband a look, "Tenzin I think that one day out in the city couldn't hurt." she said. Pema did leave the island mainly because she didn't see much of a reason to. But she could tell that her kids where starting to go a little stir crazy.

Tenzin thought it over, _I suppose that one day couldn't hurt them...but still. _the man thought. "A few rules." he started, making the kids' eyes widen with happiness, "One, you do not leave our sight. Two, do not talk to anyone that I do not. And three, you stay as close as you can to me and your mother." he stated.

The kids cheered and assaulted their father with a hugs and 'thank you's'.

…

Jason entered the last period of school with awareness, _Ok, science class. All I need to take on Electro is in here_. the teen thought as he took his seat. "This seat taken?" Jason looked to the voice to see Akiko standing there with a smile.

"Hey Aki, sure thing." he said, gesturing to the seat beside him. The two of them had a few classes together had had become good friends since they met. As she took her seat, the class began with Mr. Kuzo standing up and addressing the class.

"Alight class. We're going to start our conductors and insulators lab today. Now pair up with you partners and we'll get started." he said, signaling the best friends and old time partners to pair up.

Jason and Akiko looked around and saw that everyone was paired up with another person. "Well out of all the numerous candidates, I think your the most qualified." Jason joked, making the girl smile.

"I think I can agree to that. Come on, let's get this out of they way with." she said, standing up along with Jason and heading to one of the lab tables. Jason smiled as he saw what he needed, thick electrical insulated gloves. They where thick black and could definitely help him out, _I'll just out them in my bag when everyone leaves and the teacher's back is turned_. he thought to himself as they began the lab.

The whole experiment was simple really, a circuit on a wooden board, and the objective was to find as many ways as you can to break the circuit. Akiko looked down at the setup, "I already got one way to do it." she said, as she unplugged the while setup.

Jason couldn't help but laugh, "That's one way to do it. Tell you what, I'll work, you do whatever." he said, smoking as he slipped on the gloves and got to work.

Akiko shook her head, "That's not exactly fair to you is it?" she asked.

Jason shrugged, "Well that's what usually happens when I get a partner in class." he explained. Many people knew that Jason was smart, that usually meant that people asked him to do all the work whole they did whatever suited them.

Akiko gave him a look, "You've had a sad high school experience haven't you?"

"Yep. Pretty much." he replied with a shrug. _That was until I got bit by that radioactive spider_. he thought.

"Well have you at least done anything special at least? Got a job?" _Crime fighting_, "Moved to a new place?" _After my last one burned down, _"Got a girlfriend?" _No comment_. Jason thought in response to her questions. Akiko sighed, "What about a dance? The autumn solstice one is coming up. What about that?" she asked.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Ummm...I can't dance...well I don't know how to is more like it." he explained as he got six ways to complete the experiment written on paper.

Akiko smirked, "That doesn't surprise me all that much...how about I teach you?" she asked , making Jason nearly zap himself on the circuit.

Akiko saw what he thought, "Not like that! But I mean you make it sound like your whole experience here was dreadful. I wanna help with that." she explained.

Jason raised a eyebrow at that, "I feel like you want me to do something in return."

Akiko smiled, "You go to the dance. Simple, bring a date of you can. Just do something that will make it so that your not cometely miserable." she explained.

Jason raised a eye, "It's not...completely miserable. I made some friends this year." he said.

Akiko closed her eyes and shook her head, "Honey. That is miserable." she said, patting the boy's head. _Ok yeah I've had a shitty high school experience_. he thought, thinking back to the past month or so.

"Ok. Fine. You win, but I got work and my job's a bit sporadic." He explained as he took off the gloves and held them at his side, above his book bag.

"Really? What do you do?" Akiko asked curiously.

Jason blushed as he dropped the gloves into his bag, "I...um...work at the Daily Marvel part time. I do the Spidy stuff." he said, trying not to make it a big deal.

Akiko's eyes widened, everyone knew that Spider-Man is the biggest thing since the Avatar died. "You make it sound like it's no big deal! I mean this is a guy who beat the flying man...do you know him?" she asked curiously. _If he does my be he can help with-_

"Not like who he is under the mask. But I've talked to the guy a few times." he explained. Jason had gone over this cover almost a hundred times in his head, so he has something to say for almost everything.

"So what's the guy like?" Akiko asked, leaning up against the table.

_Ok yeah that's one I don't got a answer for._ Jason thought. "Well he's one of those guys you gotta meet to really get what he's like." he explained. Akiko seemed to buy it and the teen let out a silent sigh of relief.

Jason dug into his bag and hot a piece of paper and tore it, "Here's my number, give me call when you think you can spare a few hours to help me learn how to tango." he said, handing it to her.

Akiko smiled, "It's gonna take more than a few hours I think. And isn't it the guy who asks for the girl's number?" she asked.

Jason gave her a pointed look, "Do you want the number or not?" he asked, Akiko snatched the paper from his hand and stuck her tongue out at the boy.

"Fine. But I'm not gonna give you mine." she said, sticking the paper in her bag just as the end of the bell rang, "Well I guess that's our que. See ya later Jason." she said, giving him a small wave as she exited the room.

Jason sat at his seat for a minute. "Did I just...nah, no way." he said, getting up from his seat with the gloves in his pack.

…

Electro flexed his fist, creating a current that went through his entire arm, "Next time I see you Spider-Man. Your toast." he said firmly. He stood on the rooftop of city hall, "Though I guess the only way to bring the bug out is to toast a few things." he said as he stood up on the building's roof.

Down below, a family of five approached the building where Electro was standing ontop they where approaching, "Goodness I forgot how big the city was." Pema said, holding their youngest child in her arms. Ikki and Jinora where at her sides and looking around with wonder.

"So that's what a satomobile looks like." Jinora said in awe at the sleek automobile.

Right before a lighting bolt to the nice car and blew it up.

Tenzin instinctively wrapped his arms around his family as the girls screamed. "Quick! Get inside the building!" He shouted, ushering his family towards the front doors, only for the doorway to be destroyed with another by of lightning.

"Well lookie lookie. Air benders. It is my lucky day." Tenzin's family looked up to see Electro flying over them with a smile plastered on his face.

…

_All units, All units. Explosions identified at city hall. Request bomb squad and paramedics to attend, be advised, suspect can create lightning_. The radio on Jason 'a costume said as he hanged on the side if a radio antenna. "Got you now." Jason said before leaping off the metal tower and falling towards the ground. When he fell past the rooftop, he fired a web to the side of a building and swung down the street at spectacular speed.

Jumping off the the web, he fired another one to the left and rounded a corner. Letting go go of the web, he shot two webs on either building on his sides and pulled himself down the street into the City Hall plaza.

"Oh crap!" Jason exclaimed. The airbending family! What are-never mind. I better take him down before he hurts them. Jason thought as he landed on a manhole cover, "Yeah I can use this." Spider-Man said as he put the insulated gloves on, firing two webs to the buildings on either side of him, he pulled back with his arms and tucked his legs, taking the manhole cover with him.

As he fell down towards Electro, he smiled under his mask, "Heads up nightlight!" he shouted as he flipped in the air so he flung the manhole cover at Electro. The man turned around just in time to see the cover hit him in the gut and drive him into the side of the building.

Spider-Man landed in front if the Airbenders, "You know I wouldn't touch that if I where you! Who knows how much chewed gum is on that...now that I mention it I should probably clean my shoes when I get home." he said, making the airbending children laugh.

Spider-Man turned to the family, "Look you should all get out of here before-" the manhole fell to the ground, "-he gets back up...is what I was going to say." he finished as he turned to Electro, who was steaming mad. "Look man, I just got out of school and I got homework to do and you got jail time to serve. How about we cut this short and you just give up." he suggested.

Electro sent a bolt at him. Tenzin prepared to deflect the explosion but Spider-Man simply held his hands out as the bolt connected, _Gah! It stings like crazy! At least it doesn't hurt_. Jason thought as everyone looked at him in shock. "Awww, sparky got no punch to him? Good for me." he said, shooting a web at electro and pulling himself up to deliver a uppercut, sending him to the ground.

"Unbelievable..." Pema muttered at what she was seeing. Her husband told her about his encounter with the young hero. She had also caught Jinora listening to the radio broadcast of him fighting the Vulture a few weeks ago.

Spider-Man slingshot himself onto Electro, deepening his impression in the ground. "Just give up. I won't hurt you of you surrender Electro. I promise." he said, before electro could grab his throat he jumped off. "Hey! I'm trying to make a beatiful friendship work but here you are trying to kill me! How do you think that makes me feel ?" he asked as he blocked bolt after bolt of electricity.

_Ok I got to stop this before he does something bad_. Jason thought as he looked around for something to help him beat Electro. Scanning the area, his eyes landed on a fire hydrant. "That'll work."

Spider-Man leapt through the air and landed in a crouch in front of the hydrant, "You know what? Who needs insulated gloves? Bring in on !" he said, tossing his only means of defense away. This better work or I'm fried.

Tenzin didn't know if the teen was brave, stupid, or over confident. Electro grinned, "Alright Spider-Man! You want me to kill you that bad? Fine! Here you go!" He said, sending a full powered blast towards him. Jason waited until the last minute, seconds seemed to go on for hours as the electrically charged particles came at him.

When it was right in front of him,

Spider-Man jumped out of the way.

"GEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Electro wailed as the water short him out.

When it was over, he feel to his knees with smoke coming from him, "W-what did you do?" he asked as Spider-Man walked over to him.

"Same thing what happens when you throw a hair dryer in a bathtub. The electrical current stops, I still don't know the extent of your powers so this was kinda a long shot but it worked." he explained. Spider-Man grabbed him by the collar and clocked him, sending him crashing onto the ground. "That was for the ribs last night." he added.

Jason took a extra precaution and webbed him to the ground, sticking him in place. Spider-Man looked over his shoulder at the Airbender family who was looking at him in amazement, "Everyone alright?" he asked.

Ikki rushed over to the hero, "Hi I'm Ikki. That's my sister, Jinora, that's my mommy, that's my daddy, and that's my little brother Meelo in my mommy's arm. Who are you? Are you a bender?" she said, pointing to the respective family member she mentioned. And then barraging him with question.

_OK. I got super reflexes and even I couldn't keep up with that._ he thought to himself. Pema walked up behind the little girl and held her to the ground, stopping her bouncing. "What my daughter is trying to say, is thank you, Spider-Man." Pema said with gratitude.

"When I find you you little punk I'm gonna rip you a new-Mpphhp!" Electro started but was silenced by a web to the mouth.

"Hey there are children present. Watch your mouth." he said before turning to the woman, "And it's no problem. It's just what I do." he said with a shrug. _Even if my homework is turned in late. he thought to himself. _

Tenzin approached Pema from behind, "Pema, could you take the kids inside the building.?" he asked as Meelo reached out towards Jason's spider on his suit. Pema nodded and took her children by their hands and lead them back towards the building. Jinora gave Spider-Man a shy wave as they where pulled away from him, which Jason returned politely.

Tenzin tuned to the young hero, if you had t gave shown up today. I don't know if my family would have survived. Spider-Man, you have my enter all thanks." he said before bowing to the hero. _Oh...that's new. Jason thought._

"Councilmen Tenzin I'm very grateful but I don't do this for thanks or anything." he said, making the Airbender look at him with surprise. He gestured at Electro, "Look we both know the police probably couldn't beat this guy. In fact I'm probably the only guy who could have, I do this because I'm the only one who can so this. Not only do I want to, but I have to." he explained.

Tenzin smiled at the teen, "I'm surprised that Simone your age is wise as you are...Spider-Man. If you ever need help if any kind, I'm always open." he said, making Jason's eyes widen under his mask.

Before he could answer, the sounds of police sirens approaching jarred the both of them. "I better get going. And thanks , I'll remember that...but I probably won't use it any time soon. See ya." he said, giving a two fingered salute before attaching a web to a building and pulled himself to the side of a building.

As he jumped onto a water tower and flung himself off the tower and shot a web to another building, he smiled at the fact that he had stopped Electro.

For now.

…

Akiko smiled as he listened to the radio broadcast that told about his actions earlier that day. "He's just the man I need...god I hope Jason doesn't hate me for doing this." she said as she laid in her bed. Her room was more traditional than most rooms, a paper door and wood walks surrounding her bed with various paintings of her own littering the walls.

She grabbed the phone on her nightstand and the piece of paper that was beside it. She dialed in the number and waited for the person on the other end of the line to pick up, _"Enmgghh, Hello?"_ a tired voice in the other end of the line.

"Jason? I didn't wake you did I?" Akiko asked.

_"Aki? No I was...ok yeah I was asleep but I'm up now. What's up?" _he asked from the other end.

Akiko put her head in her hand, "Sorry. But...I um...look I have a problem. Can we meet up? Like now?" she asked.

The line was silent for a moment, _"You know it's 8:30 right? I mean I'll go, but I'm just saying. Where should we meet up?" _he asked.

Akiko looked at her clock and saw he was right, it was 8:30. "There's this coffee shop. It's in Ice Borough at the corner of Zumo ave. you know it?" she asked.

Jason nodded on the other end, _"Yea I can be there pretty quickly. Meet you there soon."_ he said before hanging up.

Akiko sighed as she got out of bed and put on her shoes. She opened her door and went down the stairs, "Mom, dad, I'm going to go meet a friend, I'll be back in a few." she called out before exiting the home. Her mother and stepfather where very loose when it came to going out.

They both knew that teens will be teens and will want to do things that they don't always approve of, but will always be there when she needs it.

As she made her way to the shop, she kept a eye behind her, making sure she wasn't being fallowed.

…

Jason had already grabbed a booth and was wiping the sleep out of his eyes when she got there, "Hey, sorry I kept you waiting." she analog iced as he took a sip on the coffee that he had. She looked at the cup with caution, "That stuff will kill you." she stated.

"That's a dirty lie. I'll have you know that it's thank to this drink I'm able to get through the day." he said, holding up the cup of coffee. _Ok maybe I'm a little addicted_. the teen thought.

"Just what a junkie would say...look your probably wondering why I asked you to come here." she said.

"That and a few other things, yea." Jason said. He then noticed the scared look in her eyes, and how she kept looking out the window. Jason reached over the table and took her hand, jolting her attention back to him, "Akiko. What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

She looked at him nervously. "My dad. He's back and town and he wants to..." she trailed off. Jason gave her starve look before he connected the dots.

"Aki..." she looked down at the hand he held and pulled her sleeve back enough to show the burned skin. "Akiko, what happened to you?" Jason asked as she eyed the new wound.

**AN: Next time: Akiko's story and a new gang in Republic City. Also special thanks to Skyline 10 for the Airbender suggestion.**


	9. Chapter 9

The Hunter

"Aki. Please, tell me." Jason pleaded with his friend. The two of them looked down to the red burned flesh on her wrist, it was a painfully apparent sign of abuse. He'd sometimes see some people with black eyes sitting on doorsteps with weeping faces back in Dragon Borough. Abuse is one of those things that Jason hasn't worked on before.

The girl let out a stifling sigh, "It's a bit of a long story. And that's not the reason I asked you here." she explained.

"Akiko. I'm more interested on the fact that you have a burn on your wrist the size of a hand than why I'm here." he stated. _She could have called me at midnight and I would have come here, but I can't help her if she doesn't tell me what's wrong_. he thought.

Akiko gave him a hard look as she pulled up her sleeve, "Jason...ok...I'll tell you. But not here...too many people." she said as she looked around the small coffee shop. Even if it was late at night, someone in Republic City was working.

"I got just the place." Jason said before he finished his cup of coffee.

…

"Isn't this a little much?" Akiko asked as they sat on the roof of a building. Jason pulled down a fire escape and reassured her that he'd show his press pass and lie if anyone caught them. The building was a three story tall one, no one would hear them down below.

Jason shrugged as he sat on the ledge while she stood against a chimney across from him, "It's private if anything. Now..." he gestured her to continue.

She looked down at her shoes, "When I was little...my dad and I got along great. We did all sorts of things together...went fishing at the docks, bought me all my painting supplies, dropped me off at school everyday...told me he loved me." she explained as she slid herself down to the ground.

"But?" Jason asked knowingly.

She drew her legs to her chest, "When I got older, he lost his job. We had money for a while and everything was still good, but when he couldn't stick a job...he just got madder and madder at the littlest things. One time, my mom wasn't home when he got there, when she got back, dad accused her of seeing someone so he hit her. Hard." she said as she buried her head in her legs.

"Then he started taking it out on me...and one time..." she choked down a sob. "He...tried to...I kicked him and ran out the door. I stayed out of the house until mom got home, I told her, and she filed for divorce." she finished, holding back the tears that came from the memory. "She remarried a few years later...my stepdad doesn't know about my dad so..."

Meanwhile Jason was using all his will not to crush the bricks his hands where on. He stood and walked beside Akiko, putting a hand on her shoulder, she jumped at the sudden touch, showing her tear stricken face. "Aki. What do you need me to do?" he asked with determination. _If there's something I can do to help her, I'll do it._

She whipped the tears away with her sleeve, "Look. A few days ago, he came to me. Begging me and my mom to come back and leave my step dad. I said no, and...well you saw." she said, clutching the hidden wound on her wrist. "I went to the police station and told one guy, he laughed and said it wasn't his problem."

What do you need?" Jason asked.

"Spider-Man." she answered. _What! No way she found out I'm- _"He's not the police. And last time I tried them...I'm asking you because I trust you Jason. And you kinda know him, so I was hoping you could pass the word along." she explained. _Oh thank god_. Jason thought in relief when he realized his cover wasn't blown.

He smiled, "I'll inform the webhead...are you ok?" he asked, noting her sad state. She absentminded nodded but Jason didn't buy it, _Oh please don't let her kill me for this_. Jason thought as he wrapped a arm around her, his cheeks bright red. Akiko was surprised by the show of care, but when she saw her friend's face, she couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"Jason, your face is so red right now." she said, trying to control herself but failing miserably.

"Well excuse me miss...red tinted hair..." he tried weakly.

"I'll have you know that this is my actual hair color." she said quite proudly. Her hair was somewhat of a mystery to everyone, she was born with such a unique hair style that she was called little red until she turned into a teenager.

"Oh. Well comment withdrawn." Jason said, taking his arm away.

"Hey don't stop. I was using that." she said as she put his arm behind her head and used it as a headrest.

"Aki. Your a five year old." he said, making her stick her tongue out at him in response.

…

Jason walked to his home, thinking of the new info he heard about Akiko's father, Rozu. _I got her number, address, and anything else that Spider-Man needs to find her. But what about when she really needs me? I can't just stay ontop of her house all sat if the guy goes there. And they won't have time to call the police...wait that's it! _he thought.

_My gauntlets are able to pick up police snd emergency scanner frequencies. So if I can make something that sends out a emergency frequency, I can give it to her and use it to get to her ASAP._ He thought in realization.

_I'm gonna be up all night_. The teen thought as he diverted his course to the nearest place he could go get the supplies he needed to construct what he had in mind.

…

It actually took him two nights in a row to get the device he needed ready. Just for kicks, he decided to make it into the shape of a Spider. He called it his spider tracer, he also found out something new and exciting about his gauntlet, a red light comes on in the small circle on the gauntlets that points the way to the device.

Because of their tacking capabilities, he decided to call them Spider Tracers. They where small enough to put in a wallet, they where activated by pressing the button on their 'backs' down.

_I wonder if Peter came up with something like this_. Jason thought as he fiddled with the device on the roof of the school. He used the old 'go to the bathroom near the end of class' excuse to get into costume and get ready to meet up with Akiko.

As the bell rang, Jason put his mask on and webbed his backpack into a web sack with a single strap over his shoulder. The teen watched the crowd for the telltale trait of Akiko's black and red hair. When he saw her hair, he leapt over the streetlamps, fallowing the girl.

After a few blocks of fallowing her towards her home, the streets where barren and they where alone. Well she thought she was alone at least. Jason jumped to the streetlamp ahead of her, "You must be Akiko." Spider-Man said, making the girl jump back from the sound of the voice.

She looked up and her jaw flipped like a fish, "Holy crap." she said in awe at the sight of the young hero hanging upside down on the streetlamp. "Mr...Spider-Man. I don't know what Jason told you but...I.." Spider-Man descended through the air via web between his legs, "Ok yeah that is cool." Akiko said with a amazed smile.

"Thanks. And just Spidy will do. Mr. Spider- Man was my father. Jason told me your story, I'm really sorry about everything you've gone through Akiko." Spider-Man said with a smile under his mask.

Akiko blushed, _I'm talking to a superhero. I am talking to Spider-Man! _"Thank you...look I know that you can't really do much..."

"Actually I can do more than you think." Spider-Man said, pulling the Spider Tracer out from his belt. "I made this so I'm able to track down bad guys. If your dad does show up, I want you to press down on the button and I'll get to you ASAP." he said, handing her the device.

She looked at the small spider device in amazement, "Woah...no offense but I didn't think you where...umm..." she didn't want to insult the guy who was helping her in anyway.

"Tech savvy?" he supplied. Akiko nodded, that sounded about right. Spider-Man merely shrugged, "I get that all the time. Now look Akiko, do you remember the name of that officer you asked to help you?" he asked, wanting to see if his theory is correct.

Akiko's face turned thoughtful, "I think it was...XioLeng. He used to hang our with my dad a lot...it's one of the reasons I asked you for help." she explained. _That confirms it, he has a friend on the force_. Jason thought.

"Ok. That helps a lot Akiko. Now I want you to go to the hospital and get that burn of yours looked at. And tell your mother what happened." he said, pointing to her hands. She swallowed hard, seemingly shrinking. Spider-Man dropped to the ground, "Akiko. I understand your scared. I know what it's like keeping secrets from the ones you love, and it feels so much better when you get that weight off your shoulders." the teen explained, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

She looked at the black lenses for a moment before nodding, "Ok. I will...but when I press this you'll be there?" she asked, holding up the Spider Tracer.

"Yep. Believe it or not, Web Swinging is way faster than driving. I could get from one end of the city to the other in like 10 minutes if I push myself." he said reassuringly.

Akiko smiled before she wrapped the hero in a hug, "Thank you Spidy." she said, breaking the embrace and hurrying on her way, "I better see you in like ten seconds when I press this down or I'll kick your but next time I see ya!" she yelled over her shoulder.

Jason's face was red under his mask but was smiling nonetheless.

…

"And why do you need to know where this guy is?" Detective Wei asked the teen. Jason figured that if anyone could help him find XioLeng it would be Detective Wei. Turns out he may not get as far as he'd thought.

Jason felt a bit uncomfortable as he sink further into the booth at the Koi Fish restaurant. It was a chain that was all across Republic City, "Because my friend asked for help and this guy brushed her off. And I thought since your a police officer and all..." he trailed off, trying to get his point across.

"And what are you planning to do when you find this guy? " Wei asked, Jason looked down, "Look if he didn't report a incident, tell me, I'll report it to my boss and we'll do our own investigation. A name would be a good start." he said.

Jason sighed, Well if worst comes to worst I can just tail him as Spider-Man. the teen thought. "XioLeng. You know him?" he asked, making the man stop from sipping his drink.

"Shit..." he muttered.

"Language officer. So what's the bad news then?" Jason asked. Usually a response like that means bad news.

Wei sighed and looked at the teen, "This stays out of the papers. Understand?" he asked, pointing a finger at the teen. Jason nodded, "Ok. Look, XioLeng is one of our worst. He only looks into what his boss tells him to look into, that usually means he has to cover it up."

Jason raised a eye, "So what are you guys doing about it? Crooked cops get taken down all the time. What's so different about this guy?" the teen asked. He knew for a fact that Whitney had helped bust at least six cops that where crooked.

"Every time we try and get him on something, something just happens to go just his way." he said. Jason gave him a confused look, "Uh sorry. Like one time we got him beating on a perp, when we questioned the perp on it, he recanted and said another inmate did it." he explained.

"What do want with him anyway?" he asked. Jason looked down at the table. Wei sighed, "Look, if it means that much I won't report the problem. Is that better?" he suggested.

_Not really, but it's better than leaving him in the dark._ Jason thought, "A friend of mine was...assaulted...and she tried to get help from XioLeng. But he brushed them off because, at least I think, he was friends with the man who hurt them." he explained.

"Jason...look, if your friend comes forward and reports it, we could nail him." Wei explained.

Jason shook his head, "Look Wei, they trusted me not to tell anyone about it. And I'm already pushing that by asking you for help on this. All I need to know is where the guy who assaulted my friend is at so it can tell them and bring them a little peace of mind." Jason explained.

Wei sat in silence for a moment, "He's staking out a Red Monsoon hideout in the Financial Borough. It's a big where house in Cee Yui street. But you didn't hear it from me." he explained as he got up from the booth.

"Thank you Wei." Jason said as he walked with the man outside the Koi Fish.

The detective smirked, "Sure. Just don't get yourself hurt." he said as he waved him goodbye.

…

Jason sat against the wall of the building that XioLeng was in. "God I hate stakeouts." Jason said, holding his head in his hands as a car pulled up to the curb of the building. Out stepped a skinny man in a police uniform, _You gotta be kidding me! I just sat here for three hours waiting for him to come out and he's not even here! _the teen thought angrily.

What surprised him was that he walked to the building across the street, the Red Monsoon hideout. "The hell?" Jason asked aloud. The man entered the warehouse without any troubles, the teen pulled himself to the building with a web and crawled through one of the broken windows.

The teen jumped into the rafters and looked down below to the floor. There where about ten triad members all together behind one man, and in front of him was XioLeng. "So how's the take this week?" the cop asked the triads.

The man in front took out a roll of Yuans and handed it to the cop, "The Wasp is selling pretty good this week." _Son of a bitch_. Jason thought. Wasp is one of the biggest drugs in Republic City, it's obtained from the BuzzardWasp hives in the desert. It's a strong hallucinogen that gives the users a big high the larger the dose. It's pretty expensive given the risks involved in obtaining it as well.

Ok. Time to do what I do best, scare the crap out of bad guys. Jason thought as he dropped from his position in the rafters and in between the officer and triad members, "Whoops. I don't suppose this is the 'say no to drugs convention is it?" Spider-Man asked cheekily. The men looked at him in shock, not saying a word, "Isn't this the part when you say 'get him' or something?"

"GET HIM!"

"There we go." Spider-Man said before he sprayed the officer with webbing and onto a wall. Three of the triads tried to rush the teen but he was quick, he jumped towards them and knocked one aside with a well placed kick. He landed on his hands and pushed himself into the chest of another, knocking him to the floor. Jason jumped off him and in front of the third man, he ducked under a swipe of water and grabbed him by his leg and tossed him into two more men, webbing them to the ground.

The other five cane all at once. Jason jumped into the air and pulled himself to one of the men using his webs, landing on his chest, the other four closed in on him from all sides, Spider-Man threw his fists out to the two men on his sides, the webbed the faces of two other men before split kicking them.

Jason had been coming along well with his type of combat style. Since he had no former training on how to fight before it's been one of his goals to make his own type of fighting style. Something that uses his speed, agility, strength, and reflexes all together.

He calls it The Way of The Spider. But he still needs to perfect it.

Spider-Man walked to the webbed officer on the wall, ripping the webbing off his mouth, he wanted to smack that smirk off his face, "Well...you caught me." he said in mock defeat. Screw it. Jason thought before clocking the side of his face, knocked some teeth out.

"Shut it XioLeng. Your going to tell me what I want to know. If you don't I'll start breaking more than bones." he said, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.

The crooked cop sneered, "You think that I'm afraid of a little bug like you?" he asked. "The Kingpin ain't gonna let anything happen to me." he said confidently. His face morphed into one of fear, he let his boss's name slip.

_The Kingpin?_

"Well lucky for you I'm not after him now. Tell me about Rozu." he stated. I'll deal with this Kingpin guy later. I have to make sure Akiko is safe. Jason thought as the man's face seemed to relax.

"Oh Rozu. What about him?" he asked.

"Where is he? Where does he live?" Spider-Man questioned while letting his grip on the man loosen slightly.

XioLeng spilled everything that he knew about the man. He was in debt to the Red Monsoons, so he was part time hired muscle, he'd rough a guy up, torch something to make a point, kick in doors, that sorta thing. Jason knocked the man out and left a note explaining everything for the police.

_Rozu lives practically nowhere near Akiko's home so she should be safe. Now who should tell her the good news? Jason O-rou or Spider-Man?_ the teen thought as he exited the warehouse with the drug payoff gone wrong behind him.

…

"XioLeng squealed." the thug said to the man in the large chair facing the window. The man in the chair drummed his fingers on the arms as he listened to what had occurred to his informant. He wouldn't turn on him just like that, with what he had on him he wouldn't dare.

"Who to?" the man asked.

"Spider-Man." The thug said simply.

The man in the chair let out a throaty laugh, making the thug jump at the sound of his boss's laugh. "Oh, for a minute I was worried." he said, settling himself down in his chair.

The thug gulped, "Sir...I know it's not my place to speak but..." his boss made a 'go on' gesture with his hand, "This man took down the Agni Kai in little over a month. And you can imagine that word is spreading fast, so the men are concerned as you can guess." he explained.

His boss seemed to think that over, "Mmmm. You make a point. Just to be safe, get Kraven on the line, tell him I have a new hunt lined up for him." the man said, deciding to be cautious.

"Of course Kingpin. I'll see that it's done."

…

Jason informed Akiko of the news about her father, she was incredibly relived at the fact that she was safe but he advised her to keep the Spider Tracer just to be safe. A few days later, Jason was reading a book when a noise from his door broke his concentration.

The knock at Jason's door took him by surprise, it was Saturday. Usually on weekends he spends some extra time as Spider-Man since he has nothing else to do during that time unless Xang calls and asks him if he wants to hang out with his friends. He went to the door and opened it to find someone he didn't expect, "Aki? What are you doing here?"

The red/black haired girl smiled as she pushed past him, "Oh darling don't you remember? Dancing!" she said dramatically while she took his sleeve and pulled him into the apartment. _Oh god_. Jason thought.

Akiko looked around the small apartment in surprise, "Man your parents must be super cool to let you live here." she said.

Jason felt like he was just slugged in the gut. He hated himself to say it, but he didn't think about his mother much since she died and he partially hated himself for thinking like that. Akiko turned and saw the look of sadness on his face, "Hey...you ok?" she asked, approaching the teen and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "My parents aren't...in my life anymore." he said, trying to avoid saying what was true. Like he was fooling himself into thinking it wasn't true.

Akiko raised a eyebrow at his strange explanation, "What do ya mean? Did they like kick you out or something?" she asked. Jason almost chuckled at that idea, his mother loved him dearly, even when he was in a butload of trouble.

Jason let out a sigh, "My dad left when I was born and...my mom died a month or so back." he said sadly.

Akiko's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh my god...Jason I'm so sorry." she said, wrapping her arms around the boy and giving him a tight hug. _I...umm...wha..._Jason didn't have a clue what to do with himself while she hugged him. "You can hug me back Jason. Just keep your hands where they belong." she said with a mild but serious tone in her voice.

Jason raised his arms and hesitated, but wrapped his arms around her, barely touching her cloths, "You make it awkward you know that?" she asked as she pulled away with a amused look on her face.

"It's my specialty. Now come on, let's get this over with. I've already made a complete ass of myself today." he stated.

"Not a complete ass, still a ass though. But I am really sorry about your mom...I gotta say you hid it pretty well." she said as she walked over to the raisin in the corner of the room. She turned on the device and tuned it to a music station playing slow songs.

"You are cruel Akiko." Jason said as she approached him.

She grinned wickedly at him in response, "Stuff it O-rou. You asked for this. Just remember that." she said, sticking her finger at his chest.

"Well I was partially forced to do this actually." he said as Akiko grabbed his hands.

"Again, stuff it. Now listen up." she said, guiding his hands to her waist, making Jason freeze in his tracks. "Jeez you look like your gonna faint. Relax. It's just me." she said, trying to calm him down and crossing her arms on her chest while Jason's hands where frozen on her waist.

"And your a girl. I can't believe that your not grasping that fact." he said bluntly.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Good god your like a squeamish girl right now. Man up dude!" she exclaimed , throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis.

"It's just...girls...they have...parts..." he blundered out with his face absolutely beat red. He really wished he had his Spider-Man costume on instead of under his clothes. Part of his job was to grab people and save them, having a mask so they can't see his face helps wonders with his confidence.

Akiko couldn't stop herself from laughing, "God you are just a little Boy Scout aren't you?" she asked with disbelief, taking his hands off her waist, much to his relief. "Ok, first thing we should do is work on your confidence." she explained. "Pretend I'm a girl you want to ask out."

Jason blushed red, "I...um...(gulp)...I...I think I'm not getting anywhere with this." Jason said, making the girl let out a groan.

"Ok you are the closet thing to a lost cause I've ever met. Let's take five." she said as she walked over to the couch and sat down. Jason sat right beside her, "Well you can sit by a girl. I call that progress."

Jason gave her a look, "Hey you don't hear me getting on your back about not having a guy...at least...never mind I'm just making a ass of myself again." he said once he saw Akiko's smile. "How are you so calm around the opposite gender?"

She shrugged, "I've always been a bit of a socialite. That and my big brother taught me not to be so shy." she explained as she kicked her feet up on the table along with Jason.

"You never mentioned a brother." Jason stated.

Akiko shrugged again, "Mainly because he's annoying sometimes. But I still love him." she said, she looked over and saw the sad look on his face. "Umm...is it ok if I ask how your mom died?" she asked cautiously.

Jason looked down on the floor between his legs and sighed, "One day I saw my neighbor's friends bring a can of gas into his apartment. Later that day I came home and found my apartment building on fire. I ran in, got my mom out and into a ambulance...she died at the hospital." he explained to Akiko's shock, "If I'd have done something...she would still be alive." he said depressingly.

Akiko looked at him with pure shock, His fault? Is that what he thinks? she inwardly questioned. Akiko stayed in her spot for a moment, she scooted over and buried her head in his shoulder, giving him a hug. "It's not your fault." she stated.

"Aki-"

"Shut up...you didn't do anything wrong Jason. So stop blaming yourself...alright?" she pleaded.

_It is my fault...I could have stopped Dragon. I could have saved mom. I could have done a million different things. But I chose to do the one that made it worse. _Jason thought. The teen felt the girl's grip on him tighten, _But she doesn't know that, and she never can_.

Jason wrapped his arms around her back and returned the hug, "Ok." he said.

Akiko pulled away and smiled, "Good...look at that. You got your hands around a girl and your not a bumbling idiot." she said, taking note of the lack of shyness the teen showed.

Jason felt heat rise to his cheeks, he and Akiko's faces where close together. Very close together, so much so that Jason could feel her breath on his chin, "So...what's the next step?" he asked nervously.

Before she could reply, the radio had a break in the music. _'We interrupt this program to bring you a special report. Triad members have taken hostages at First National Bank. We urge citizens near the bank to remain calm, the police are on their way.'_ the device said, snapping the two teen's out of their trance.

"I better go." Jason said, rising from the couch.

Akiko looked at him like he fell from the sky, "What the hell do you mean you gotta go?! You heard the same thing I did, stay away." she said as he got his coat on.

"Well a certain red and black superhero is going to show up and I'm the guy who writes his stories." he said. Akiko didn't look convinced. Jason walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, I've done this a few hundred times already. I'll be fine." he said, trying to put her at ease.

As he made his way to the door, he felt someone pat his shoulder, "Tell Spidy thanks when you see him okay? I owe him for the while thing with my dad." she explained.

The teen felt as though half his face was covered by the mask that he used to keep his identity a secret. "Sure thing. See ya later." he said as the two left his apartment building and headed their separate ways.

Jason looked over his shoulder until the girl disappeared down the street. He jumped into the air and into the side of a building and climbed to the roof and changed into Spider-Man.

The teen jumped through the air and shot a webline at a tall building and swung though the air towards the bank.

…

_Wow...maybe these guys don't need me on this one_. Jason thought as he looked down from the side of a blushing to see the strong police presence at the bank. "Well then again, I broke off my emotional dollar coaster to get here so I might as well do something." he said decisively before jumping off the building towards the bank.

"Ah! Here we go." Jason said as he pulled a air vent cover off it's hinges.

The teen attached a webline to the roof and quickly turned his body and gripping the web tight, pulling himself towards the roof. Spider-Man had been in a few hostage situations in his career, the police will try to talk the triads down while preparing a strike team to take them down.

But that takes way to long and is risky, with Jason going in he's able to take the men out quietly. He was surprised by how little the men didn't check the walls and ceilings.

After crawling through the vents for a good long while, Spider-Man slowly pushed a vent open and climbed onto the wall. The lobby was lush with shades of green, white, and gold. But what surprised the teen was that the place was deserted, no triads, no hostages, nothing. "Did I get here late or something?" Spider-Man questioned.

He didn't see the shuriken thorn at him until the last minute, the teen jumped down into the ground and landed on his hands. He then pushed himself off into the air and landed on another wall, "Hey! I'm trying to find out what's going on here and your trying to kill me! Let me think for a minute."

"What is going on Spider-Man, is that you are part of my hunt." a accented voice said from above. The teen looked up to see a man hanging on the top of the chandelier, he had black kaung fu pants on, a leaker print vest, a crossbow across his back, and two very big knives on his sides.

"Holy crap. Your Kraven!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

Kraven the hunter was a world wide celebrity of sorts. The stories of his legendary hunts where told all across the world, how he took down a moose lion with his bare hands was one that was the most widely told. The bearded man smirked, "Ah so you have heard of me."

Spider-Man shrugged, "Well more like all the things you've done. And what do you mean that I'm part if your hunt?" he asked a bit nervously.

The hunter grinned, "Man is not the most dangerous game. For you can achieve fears that no man can reach! You, who can cling to walls as though you walk on them, you who can lift a man with no trouble. You Spider-Man, will be my greatest hunt." Kraven said before drawing his blade and crossbow.

"Oh well that's just peachy." Jason muttered as Kraven shot his bolt at him. Jason jumped from the wall onto the floor, he looked up just in time to see Kraven's knives come down from above at great speeds.

The teen backflips out of the way, Kraven charged right after him swiping his blades, "Look Kraven, I don't want to fight you." he said before ducking under a swipe if the blade.

"That's good! The best prey does not want to fight either!" he said, making a X shape with his blades in a attempt to slice Spider-Man. _Ok so your expecting me not to fight, good! _Jason thought as he jumped backwards over a desk and kicked it towards the hunter.

He was quick to react and jumped ontop of the desk and then into the air, throwing more metal stats down at the teen, _Holy crap_. he thought as he shot webs at the stars, knocking them out of commission. When Kraven landed, Spider-Man pounced at the hunter.

Kraven smiled before smashing a smoke pellet to the floor. "Hey! No fair!" Spider-Man yelled out. Jason fired webs to the ceiling and pulled himself up to the ceiling. When the smoke cleared, Kraven was gone. "What the-where'd you go!" he called out.

Spider-Man looked around and saw the man zoom between marble columns near the front of the entrance. _Damn he's fast!_ he thought as he lost sight of the man. He barely had enough time to react when the knife sliced his arm, "GAH!" he yelled as he fell to the floor.

"Come now Spider-Man! I know you can do better than that! I've seen your battles, you've walked away from bigger hits than that before!" Kraven boasted from the upper level of the bank. Jason rose from the ground and put a web over the wound, making a makeshift bandage.

"Ha ha! Good! That is what I like to see, ingenuity! Improvisation! This is what makes you the ultimate prey!" he exclaimed as he jumped down rushed Spider-Man, dogging the webs that he fired at him in the process.

The teen rushed towards the man, _Ok, let's hope I can do this , time to channel the Spider O-rou!_ the teen thought. The two clashed, Kraven slashed with his knives but Jason sidestepped and delivered a hit to the man's jaw, knocking him back. _Now's my chance! _Jason leapt over with his legs outstretched.

Time seemed to slow as Kraven grabbed another smoke pellet, _Crap he's going to do that again, and I'm going to have to either get attacked in the dark where I think he will be or on a wall or ceiling where he'll be expecting me! If only...that's it!_ Jason though as he pulled up the hem of his upper costume and pulled out a spider tracer.

As Kraven threw the pellet to the ground, Jason threw a spider tracer on his pant leg. Jason landed in the black smoke and looked down at his gauntlet, "Ah, you try a different approach this time." Kraven said in the darkness. The tracer was coming from directly behind him. Spider-Man threw his hands over his head and sprayed all the webbing that he had.

Just in time to see the knife stop in front of his face.

"Talk about a close shave." Jason said to his own amusement. The teen turned around and saw the hunter covered completely in webbing from head to toe. "Look I'm flattered that you think I'm that great and all, but you did make a false police report about hostages-"

"Who said that was a lie?" he asked with a grin. Jason stopped himself, "I knew you couldn't help yourself if people where at risk Spider-Man. It is as though police sirens are your hunting call." he explained, "Hostages where just the bait, and explosives just made them all the more juicer for you."

_Bombs! Is this guy insane...ok yeah scratch that, he probably is_. Spider-Man thought, "Kraven they have nothing to do with whatever you have against me. Let them go." Jason demanded.

The hunter let out a howl of laughter, "I'll make a deal with you Spider-Man. If you defeat me in hand to hand combat. I'll tell you how to let them go." he bargained. _Yeah I'll trust the man who just tried to kill me...but I don't have much choice in the matter_. the teen thought before he tore the webbing off the hunter.

To his surprise he didn't blitz him, instead he dropped all his weapons on the ground and raised his hands, ready to fight. "Come now Spider! Let us finish this!" he said enthusiastically.

Spider-Man readied himself, "Yep. You are crazy, aren't you?" he asked. Kraven didn't hear him as he pounced towards the teen. Spider-Man rolled under him while he went overhead. Kraven landed on his hand and pivoted so he was facing Spider-Man's back. He charged and brought his fist down onto Spider-Man's face, knocking him away.

Jason ducked under a sideways kick to his ribs and and delivered a uppercut, making the hunter stagger backwards before he jumped towards him only for Kraven to fall onto his back and kick Spider-Man over his head and into the desk he thrown at him earlier. The teen stood from the rubble just in time to jump out of the hunter's leg that crashed into the wood.

Jason pushed himself from the ground and spun in midair, delivering a strong kick to Kraven's jaw. _I want to put more into this, but I may kill him if I do that. _Jason thought as Kraven regained his footing and stood from the ground before charging at the young hero once again.

The teen hopped high enough to bring both his fists down onto the back of his head, sending his upper body to the ground. Jason backed away in case of a surprise attack but was actually surprised when Kraven started laughing, "Good! Yes! This is the hunt I've been waiting for." he said, trying to get up but faltering.

After a few more attempts at sitting up, he slouched to the ground. "You win. Spider-Man." he said in defeat.

Thank god! "Now tell me about-"

"They're set to go off in two days. A precaution I took in case the police took me. It will be more than enough time to disarm them...now. Kill me." _Whoa wait what?!_

"Kraven. I'm not a killer. That's not what I do." he stated firmly. It's Jason's number one rule, his only rule really. If he started acting a judge, jury, and executioner, then he wouldn't be any better than the people he puts away.

The man laughed, "Prison will not hold me Spider. This hunt shall go on for as long as you refuse to end my life." he stated. "And more and more lives will be put on the line each time you refuse to kill me. Or I kill you."

Jason looked down at the man before webbing him to the floor, "Yeah yeah. I get it, vengeance will be mine and all that. Say hi to Electro and Vulture when you see them." he said before walking away from the fallen hunter.

…

_Is he right?_ Jason thought as he laid awake in bed. _If more guys like Kraven keep coming out of the woodwork, then more people's lives will be put in harm's way._ The teen thought, _What if someone dies because they want to get to me? Or worse yet a bunch of people, or someone important!_

The teen put his pillow over his brushed face, Kraven really did pack a punch. Then something came across his mind that scared him to his core.

What of they find out who I am. And then hit the school?

The idea of all the people there put at risk sent a chill down his spine. Should he have killed Kraven? _No that wouldn't have solved anything, and even if he breaks out, I'll find a nice deep dark hole to spend the rest of his life in_. Jason thought as he began to fell asleep.

…

Kraven had been found by the police later that day, after they freed the hostages, they arrested the hunter for a great deal of charges. But throughout all of it, Kraven didn't say a single word, that was until one of the unties put him the police van. "You almost had me fooled."

The driver smirked, "What gave it away? On second thought never mind, I'll figure it out for myself." he said as he turned the car around a corner. "Your job was to hold him off as long as you could. What happened?" he asked.

Kraven smiled, "He is a better predator than I first thought. He is young, but has much potential. It is a shame I have to kill him." Kraven said regrettably. Spider-Man was more deadlier than man, and yet he did not kill his captured prey, it was strange to Kraven.

"Don't worry Chameleon. Eventually the Spider will die."

**AN: First off, child abuse is one of the worst things that I strongly stand against. I wasn't abused as a child or anything, but I find the act itself despicable. One minute , 24 people are ab abused, raped, or stalked by a intimate partner. But it doesn't need to be like that, if you know someone, or are someone who has been involved with abuse, I urge you to call the abuse hotline.**

**Now that I've gotten that out there, about the story.**

**Kraven is personally one of my favorite Spidy villains. All of his other bad guys have some sort of superpower but Kraven is the really only normal one that trained his body hard enough to taken on super heroes. So he's kind of the Batman of Marvel in a sense.**

**I'm sorry that I haven't put this up sooner. I found Sword Art Online and I haven't been able to get myself away from it. I can't wait until SAO II gets Dubbed. **

**Oh and if anyone is interested, one of my fav. authors, Wraith002, has suggested a challenge, a Spider-Man /Bioshock crossover. Of anyone is interested you can find him under my Fav. Authors and look at what his challenge is.**

**Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, thank you for reading, and reviews are always welcome.**


	10. Chapter 10

Rhino Rampage

Spider-Man zoomed over the streets, jumping off a webline and shooting another to pull himself further down the street. "No no no no no! I can't be late!" he yelled to himself. He had to take care of a turf war near Diamond Borough before school started and he was running late for first period. But if he could just keep his current speed-

"Stop! Thief!"

_Oh of course_. Jason thought as he fired to webs to the sides of the buildings behind him, slowing himself down. Below was a man running down the sidewalk with a bag in one hand, and a knife in the other. Jason angled himself and crashed into the man feet first, he cartwheeled midair and sprayed the man to the ground with webs and caught the bag of money as well with a web.

"You know you just cost me my education. I hope your happy!" He yelled back as he jumped back into the air and started on his way towards the school. He attacked to webs down the street and pulled as hard as he could, he zoomed past street lamps and cars as the school came into sight.

"Yes! I can still make it!" Jason exclaimed as he pulled his clothes out of his backpack and took off his Spider shoes, "Gah! Hot roof! Hot roof!" he called out as he hopped across the blacktop roof while trying to get his socks on.

The teen took a few second to put his civilian clothes on and take off his mask. The teen crawled around the side of a building and peeked into a open window that was in the library. "Gotta make it." Jason muttered as he slipped inside and jumped to the floor with a front flip before running towards the door and nearly breaking it off it's hinges.

The teen sprinted down the hall towards his class, the teen passed a few students as he ran at top speed, Jason saw his class at the end of the hall, he opened the door and took his seat beside Xang while Mis. Obi's back was to the class and the bell rung out, "Oh thank god." the teen muttered.

Xang leaned over with a smirk, "That was the end of the period bell."

The teen wanted to lay down and cry.

…

"How many times does it make it?" Kong asked his fellow jock. Jason was sitting across from the two in lunch, he had to do extra homework tonight just to make up for it. Which is exactly what he was doing now instead of eating.

"Fourth time this week. And I thought I had problems with the exams next week." Xang said, looking at the book worm. "So is there any reason why your missing more class than usual?" he asked with curiosity and partial concern.

Jason sighed as he finished reading another section of the paragraph he had to read for homework, "I've been busy at work lately and I haven't exactly been sleeping a lot lately." he explained quiet truthfully. _It's better than saying for no reason at all. _he thought.

Kong gave the teen a sympathetic look, "Hey it's rough living on your own. They should cut you some slack." he said in Jason's defense. _Glad someone other than me thinks so_. the teen thought as he continued filling out his homework.

Jason shrugged, "Well things should go down after exams. So I just need to stick it out for now and I should be golden." he said, thinking on the bright side of things.

"Why the hell are you doing homework during lunch?" the three boys' heads turned to see Akiko looking away Jason like he just started flying. _Because I got a guilty conscious?_ Jason thought.

"He came into first period just when it was over. For the fourth time this week." Xang explained. _It's times like this that I miss not having any friends_. Jason thought as he brought the book up to his nose do they couldn't see his face.

Akiko looked down at Jason with a amused expression on her face, "And here I thought you where one of those guys who worked hard." she said taking a seat next to her friend. She turned to Xang, "I'm sorry, my name's Akiko. Jason's friend." she said, patting the teen's shoulder.

Xang smiled, "Xang. Jason's friend. And this is Kong." he said, gesturing to the big guy and tilting his head to the studious teen. _Wait so she just gives a complete stranger her name when she makes me guess it for a day after she gives me a bloody nose? How is that fair_? Jason thought.

"You guys realize that I'm trying to study right?" Jason said, shaking his book in a attempt to get his point across to the rest of the table's occupants.

Akiko shook her head, "You need to relax. Look the dance is tomorrow. You go there, have a good time, loosen up that noose around your neck a little. Have fun for god's sake." she said, trying to get through the teen's head.

Xang's eyes widened, "Wait your going to the dance! Holy shit. I can't believe it." he muttered. Making the teen gave his friend a look.

"Thank you for that boost in my confidence. And frankly with how much my work is piling up I may have to stay home instead of going." he stated, making Akiko give him a pointed look.

She put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed, making Jason drop his book and let out a 'ettt!'. "I'm sorry Jason, it sounded like you just threw the last five days of my work with you out the window. Would you kindly repeat that?" she asked in a voice that sent chills down Jason's spine and making the two jocks back away from her.

It didn't hurt all that much but Jason had to make it look like it did. "What I meant to say is that I'll totally blow off my schoolwork to go to the dance!" he said, making the girl smile and let go of him. "My god how did you do that? Your about as skinny as I am and I can barely lift this table!" he said, pointing to the lunch table.

Akiko shrugged and smiled, "Never mess with a girl who chooses not to use fire bending." she said, making Jason give her a sympathetic look. "Well it was nice meeting you Xang, Kong. But I better be going. See you guys later." she said, waving them goodbye.

Jason rubbed his shoulder while his friends waved her goodbye. The three sat at the table for a few seconds before Kong spoke up, "So much for the whole not having a girlfriend."

Jason nearly popped his shoulder out of place, "W-What! Nononono! It's not like that. She's a friend." he explained to the smiling duo.

"Uh-huh." Xang said. "Try and sat that when we catch you two all over each other I'm the janitor's closet." he said, causing Jason's face to flush deep red. _Oh please god let me be late and be banned from the dance_. Jason thought as he covered his face with his book once again.

…

"So what is this man's story?" Kingpin asked, looking down at the photo. The photo had a humanoid looking mass that had it's head looking towards the sky with a horn pointing upwards. The figure was easily bigger than a trolly car and could probably tip it over.

"They call him the Rhino. And before you ask, just that, not the Rhinobear, Rhinolozard. Just Rhino. As for his story, he was a resident of Zaofu, that metealbending city, anyway; he found out a way to make the ultimate armor." he explained.

Kingpin gave the man a look of interest, "He had the benders of the city encase him in meteorite." the thug said, making the Kingpin laugh.

"That is the kind of dedication that I can appreciate. So what happened?" he asked, wanting to know more of the possible employee.

"Well he had them shape the suit of his into a shape of...well that." he said, gesturing to the photograph that came with the man's file. "He used to be the only thing protecting the city from any threats, but he got pretty violent because of all his work, coupled with the fact he can't remove his suit, he left Zaofu and became a mercenary." the thug explained.

Kingpin read over the file a and smirked, "He seems perfect for the job. Are the teams ready to carry out the plan?" he asked, setting the file on his large oak desk.

The man nodded, "Yes sir. Everything is ready."

…

"Can I ask you something?" Jason asked as he and Akiko exited the high school. The day seemed to go by fast today, making seem that the world was making it so that Jason had to attend the dance sooner than he'd like.

Akiko nodded while they walked through the crosswalk, "Well...if had something that you chose to do, but it affected the way you live, would you still do it?" he asked. He still had the internal debate from his fight with Kraven going through his head, if he hadn't become Spider-Man would these crazies even be coming to Republic City?

Akiko thought for a moment, "Well I guess that depends on what it is you choose to do. I mean if it's something that you do for the fun of it I'd give it up. But if it was important I'd still do it." she said honestly. "Why?" she questioned.

Jason scratched the back of his neck, "I do my job at the Marvel because I need money. But my mom left me a lot of money so I wouldn't need it...but I don't feel right using that money." he lied.

Akiko gave a small smile, "Look, it may not be my place to say but your mom is the one who left you all that money. It's yours, not hers. And she'd want you to use it however you wanted. Maybe a suit for the dance would fall in that category." she said, taking note of his current attire.

"Well not all of us dress like kings and queens. Now come on, let's get this over with." he said as they turned the corner that his apartment resided on. Akiko and him had been going to his house after school for her to teach him about dancing.

It was also in part to when Akiko told her mother and father of what happened, they decided to play it safe and rent a motel for a week or so to throw the man off their scent. Jason had advised Akiko to hold onto the Spider Tracer for the worst case scenario.

The teens entered Jason's apartment and set their bags near the door, "You know I know that deep down you enjoy this. Spending time with someone outside of school that is." she said as she turned the radio to the usual station.

Akiko did the same as last time and put one of her hands in his and the other on his shoulder while Jason put his hand in her waist, "And no blushing this time. Thank god. Now for the final step of Akiko's dance academy." she said dramatically. "Actual dancing."

_Oh god_. Jason thought, "It's easy, you just really need to make sure you don't step on your partner's feet." she explained before she started moving her feet, Jason's eyes stayed glued to her shoes as they moved along, making sure not to step on them.

I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of this. The teen thought as they moved about the apartment, "Stop looking down." Akiko advised.

"If I do that then I'll step on you toe." Jason defended. And he didn't want to accidentally break her foot with his super strength...if that was even possible that is.

"If you keep doing that girls are going to think that your staring at their breasts." she said in a sing-song tone. This make Jason's head snap right up to her's with his face beat red.

"I-I-I'm not-" he stuttered out.

Akiko laughed, "Relax Jason. I know you weren't. Besides you should save it for your date." she said, making the teen blush even darker red.

Something dawned on the teen. He didn't have a date. "Ummmm...about that date part..." he started. Akiko stopped moving and gave him a pointed idiot.

"I taught you how to ask a girl out! How hard could you possibly make this?!" she demanded, sticking a finger in his chest. In all honestly she did this because she wanted to spend some time with Jason. It wasn't that she liked him like that, but mostly because he's her best friend.

Jason rubbed the back of his head, "Very much apparently." Akiko folded her arms over her chest, "And I've had a load of crap I've had to do over the past few days. Work, school, homework, buying groceries, paying for rent, I'm living on my own here, give me a break." he said defensively.

Akiko put her hand over her eyes and walked to the couch, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just a little pissed off is all." she said as she sat down on the couch. Jason went to the fridge and got a drink of waters for the two of them.

"Wanna talk about it ?" he asked, sitting down next to her and giving her a water.

She took the drink and looked down at it and sighed, "Remember at luck today when I told you about my fire bending?" she asked. Jason nodded, "Well some guys overheard me as they told me they don't want any benders at the school." she said.

Jason's eyes widened, "What! That's stupid! I mean I get that Dragon Flats has a big non bender population...but still..." he trailed off. He'd heard of a few instances where non benders would assault benders in crowds. "Wait, they didn't try anything with you did they?" he asked with concern in his voice.

Akiko shook her head, "Nah it was mainly a warning. And they just expressed that they where uncomfortable, I just took it as they didn't want me at school." she explained, easing the teen's worries.

"Just in case, you still got that thing that Spidy gave you?" he asked. The next time he saw Akiko after giving her the tracer she was kind of showing it off, and and just showing that she IS a big five year old.

The girl grinned and pulled the Spider shaped gadget out of her pocket and waved it in front of his face, "Never leave home without it. You know I've been thinking of testing it to see if he does show up, who knows maybe he can give you pointers on asking girls out." she said nonchalantly.

Jason couldn't hold back the laugh, "I'm sure your right about that Aki. But I wouldn't call him out of the blue like that, he already may be doing something really important." he explained. _That and I'm already working non-stop nearly 24/7. _Jason thought to himself.

Akiko nodded, "Yeah that's a good point. So who are you thinking of taking to the dance?" she asked. Jason gave her a pointed look, Akiko chuckled nervously, "Never mind. It's perfectly fine." she said quickly.

"You wanna say something Aki say it." he replied.

Akiko gulped, "It's not a big deal. If it makes you feel better I don't have a date either." she supplied. Jason couldn't only find minimal comfort in the fact, but it was comforting nonetheless.

…

Spider-Man attached his web to the building ahead of him, flying over the street lamps and pedestrians below him. He let go of the web and shot another on the left side of the street, pulling him over and changing his course slightly. Jason decided that finding out more about this 'Kingpin' character should be on the top of his list today.

The Triple Threats have been laying low ever since their change in leadership, and the Red Monsoons aren't taking any chances, well as much as they used to, and are going under the radar as well. Jason was proud of the face that he's been able to do as much as he has in a short amount of time, if this keeps up he may be able to take a few patrols off.

The teen spun his body in the air and shot a web on the corner of a building, making him take a quick right around the corner of it, "Ok, Triple Threats keep to Dragon Flats. Red Monsoons are by the docks. And Diamond was the Agni Kai turf. So where else could they be?" Jason wondered as he landed on a trolly car.

From what little he could get from Whitney at the Daily Marvel, the Kingpin is the man behind the gangs. Not that he's in charge of all three of them, but he's so powerful that the gangs stay out of his reach out of respect. "I gotta find a guy who knows the gangs...and I think I just may know someone." Jason said as he jumped off the trolly and shot a web to the side of a building and pulled himself up past it.

Jackie, he was Detective Wei's brother. And if he could get in contact with him, he may just be able to find out more about the Kingpin. He used to run with the Agni Kai, but since he broke that gang apart he should be perfect for finding the Kingpin.

Jason grabbed a flagpole and launched himself into the air with it by twirling around on it. Jason fired two webs to either side of him to slow his decent to the rooftop across from the police station. "And now for my least favorite thing to do. Waiting." he said as he made a web hammock from the webs on either side of him.

_God what am I doing? I bet that Akiko's at home right now listening to the radio with her family. And Xang is probably out on a date right now thinking of how sad I am. This isn't what a teenager like me should be doing! I should be at home, studying my ass off for the exams next week. Or going to try and find a girl to go to the dance tomorrow. _Jason thought to himself.

_And it's just a matter of time until another super villain attacks the city. Even if I stop what's behind it, I got like four or five guys who want me dead for putting them in jail that have powers. God my life is weird. _The teen thought as he looked at the entrance to the police station. His eyes trailed to the statue of Toph over the door, "Wonder of you'd throw me away, or give me a medal for what I've been doing."

…

Wei was just getting off his shift. It seems as though he's been doing that earlier and earlier every week. Ever since the Agni Kai fell, his workload has been cut in half, but what bothered him about it was that it was ever so slowly rising again. The man crossed the sidewalk at a brisk pace, trying to get to his car as soon as he could so he could go home and get some shut eye.

"Detective Wei?" The man jumped back and fired his wire at the voice that came from. The top of the streetlamp where Spider-Mam was crouching, he was faster than the wire and jumped out of the way, "Hey! I'm just trying to start a conversation!" he said as he landed on the man's car.

Wei retracted his cable, "In all fairness I should arrest you...but you did get my workload cut in half." he said, bringing the teen at ease. "So what do you want?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets. He shouldn't be talking to the vigilante, but a good amount of the police think that he's actually done good for the city.

"Im going after this guy called the Kingpin. What do you know about him?" Spider-Man questioned.

Wei's eyes widened at the teen's proclamation, "Ok...you are crazy. Look kid, the Kingpin is the biggest crime lord in Republic City. It's the same as signing your death certificate." he explained. Every time someone tries to take him down, they wind up dead." He said.

"And that gives him a free pass to do whatever he wants? That's intimidation, I thought Bei-Fong would be more 'affirmative action' than this." he said crossing his arms. Lin Bei-Fong was known all over the city for her ruthlessness on crime, and also for her anger issues, word has it they're still repairing Air Temple Island from her rampage a few years back.

Wei shook his head quickly, "First off, if you care for your well being at all, don't ever, EVER, Say anything like that out loud near the police HQ. And second she knows that there's a difference between sending men to their doom and building a case against someone." he explained.

"So you already know who the Kingpin is then?" he asked skeptically.

Wei shook his head, "All the criminals know who he is. Big or small. They know him." he explained, "It's to intimidate them, that way they know he's so confidant about how powerful he is that he isn't afraid to tell people who he is."

Spider-Man pin riches the bridge of his nose through his mask, "Look, I'm almost completely certain that the Kingpin is responsible for the bad guys who've been trashing Republic City lately. Kraven, Electro, when's the next big-"

_'All units all units. We have reports of a man in a gigantic metal like suit destroying property in the uptown district. All units please report.'_ The radio on Jason's gauntlet said. Wei and Spider-Man looked down at the gauntlet, then back at one another.

"See? What did I say?" Spider-Man said, folding his arms over one another.

Wei shook his head and got into his car while the vigilante shot a web and pulled back on it, pulling himself into the air. The teen fallowed Detective Wei's car towards the uptown district.

…

"Holy crap." Jason muttered as he sung over the path of destruction. Massive footprints where embedded in the concrete, cars where flipped on their sides, some on their roofs. "Oh my god." Jason said in shock at the hole of the building ahead of him. The teen lowered his altitude and fired a web at the wall above the hole and swung through the hole.

Put a whole new spin to the whole Bull in a potter shop thing.

The teen landed on the other side of the hole and his jaw nearly fell off his face. "I am going to die. I'm not joking. I'm gonna die." he said in pure shock at what he was seeing.

A man in a massive suit of armor was twirling policemen in the air by their wires. The armored man threw them into the air, "I got 'em!" Jason yelled as he jumped into the air and weaves a large web between two buildings where they landed, the men hit the web one by one, making the webbing slowly sink towards the ground.

My he teen landed back on the road as Detective Wei pulled up in his car beside him, "Holy shit." he said as he exited the car.

"I already went over that. Look, take your men and have them start extracting civilians from the area." Spider-Man advised, the last thing he wanted was a high fatality count when the day was over with.

"And what are you going to do?" Wei asked questionably.

The masked teen shrugged, "What else? I'm gonna play with our new friend over there." he said, pointing to the armored man looking thing. Well that's what Jason called it in his head.

Wei's eyes widened, "You ARE insane." he said bluntly.

"Pretty much." Spider-Man said with a shrug before jumping over towards the large mass if armor. The teen landed right behind the man, the suit turned to face him, showing the man's face under the tusk on his head, "Hey is that a horn-" he began to stand upright, towering over the small teen, "or...are...you...just...happy to...I am so scared right now I can't even finish my stupid joke."

The man raised his fist above his head and shot it towards the wall crawler, "Mother F-" Spider-Man was sent flying through the air towards Wei's car.

"Oh come on!" Wei shouted as he ducked down as the masked teen crashed into the vehicle. Almost destroying the front of it, "Holy shit! Spider-Man! Are you alright?" he asked as he helped the teen off the wreckage.

Surprisingly Spider-Man shakily stood on his feet, "My head, and everything below it hurts more than you can imagine." he stated as he began to make his way back towards the armored man.

"Wait your going back! Your going to get yourself killed!" he said, trying to stop the teen from going any further.

"Hey he just sucker punched me! I'll be fine." he said, acting like he wasn't on the verge of his bones cracking. Before Wei could stop him, Spider-Man shot two webs to the lampposts and pulled himself through the air and towards the massive man.

Rhino was immensely surprised that the small teen was still standing, "I'll admit kid. I didn't expect you to get back up. Your the first person to not die from a punch from the Rhino."

Jason raised a eye under his mask, "The Rhino what?" he questioned as Rhino raised his hands above his head and brought them crashing down. Spider-Man was quick to react and back flipped out of the way.

"It's just the Rhino! And they're going to engrave it on your tombstone!" he cried out as he got into a sprinting position.

"So, wait. Just Rhino...my life is so weird." he said as Rhino charged towards him, his hands and feet all coming his way. Spider-Man jumped towards the large man and grasped his horn, "Yeeeha! It's a first class rodeo!" he yelled out, making Rhino slow himself to a halt.

He reached up to try and grab the Spider but he slid off and delivered a solid kick to Rhino's exposed face, making him back step, "That hurt." he said simply before he jumped towards the teen. Spider-Man dived out if the way of the massive man as the concrete where he was standing was crushed.

More cop cars began to pull up to the scene of the fight, many of them watching in awe of the Spider-Man face off against the Rhino. The evacuations where going smoothly, no one was throwing any complaints when they saw what they where in danger of.

Detective Wei was unofficially in charge of making sure the evacuation was going well, "What the hell is going on here!" the police seemed to stop at the sound of Lin's voice.

Wei stepped forward, "Spider-Man is distracting the big guy while we get everyone out of the area. Evacuations are going well. But..." he looked over as Rhino smashed a hole in a wall as Spider-Man hopped backwards, further up the wall.

Lin pinched the bridge of her nose, "And we started taking orders from vigilantes when exactly?" she asked. Wei and the other officers looked down at their shoes, "Never mind that now. Keep up evacuations." she said as she went to join in on the fight.

"Im gonna crush you like the big you are!" Rhino shouted as he tore off the wall that Spider-Man was clinging to and threw it into the air. Thinking quick, the teen shot two webs on either side of Rhino and suck them to the wall, making a slingshot.

The teen jumped off as the brick and mortar came crashing into Rhino as Spider-Man landed a few feet away, "Does that even hurt? I'm really trying here and I'm really starting to feel like I'm just doing a crap job right now." he called out, making Rhino turn to him.

As he prepared to charge, metal cables wrapped around his legs and where pulled out from under him. Indenting the concrete, "Rhino. It's time to stop this." the two looked behind Rhino and saw the chief of police retracting her metal cables.

Rhino grinned, "Mis. Bei- Fong. Your sister sends her regards." he said as he got back up and Lin's expression turned deadly.

Rhino got into a sprinting stance as Lin fired her cables at him only for Rhino to grab them, he grasped the lines and snapped the cables, rendering them useless. Lin's eyes widened as she retracted them and Rhino began to charge.

"Crap!" Spider-Man shouted as he pressed down on his web shooters. But no webs came out. _Shit! I was supposed to make more web fluid last night but I had to study! _he thought as he jumped onto the side of a building and ran towards Lin. _God I really hope this works! _Jason thought as the teen jumped in front of Lin and Rhino.

The teen grasped Rhino's horn, and planted his feet firmly on the ground, he was pushed back by Rhino's strength but eventually stopped him with his horn being held in a vice grip under Spider-Man's arm. "Here comes the fun part!" Jason said through gritted teeth as he leaned back and actually lifted the man off the ground slightly.

Jason's muscles where on fire but he couldn't stop, "Didn't. Your. Mother. Tell. You. Not. To. Hit. Girls!" He shouted as he rammed the man into the wall of a building a few times. Lin watched in awe at the display of the teen's strength, but snapped out of it and used her Earthbending to lift a large block of the concrete from the street and use it to smash Rhino clean through the wall and out if the vigilante's grip.

"Oh god..." Jason muttered as he crumbled to his knees. "That. Hurt." he stated as Lin came up beside him, looking at the wall that they sent Rhino through.

"This doesn't change a thing. I just want to put this guy away, after that your next." she explained as she focused on where she sent the armored man. Jason slowly stood and looked back at the hole in the street that Lin made, the smell of the sewers coming from the hole.

"I got a idea."

…

Rhino was pissed, "Little bitch. I'm gonna make her pay for that!" he said as he brushed the rubble off himself and charged through the hole he came through towards the bug.

He came crashing through the building, when the dust settled, Spider-Man was in the center of the street waving at him, "Hey there horn head! What took you so long? I didn't think that someone calling himself Rhino could get beat up by a girl!"

And that was the last straw.

Rhino got on all fours and charged towards the wall crawler. But instead of getting ready to jump out of the way, he sat down in the middle of the road! "Your dead you little insect!" he roared out.

Jason smiled under his mask, "I'm a arachnid. There's a difference." Rhino was only ten feet away.

"Like trap door spiders. Now!" he shouted.

The street in front of Spider-Man caved in as Rhino ran over it. The man was left speechless as he went under the ground, seeing Lin giving him a sneer in the sewer passages as he fell into a deep hole that he had no chance of crawling out of. When he hit the ground, the back of his head hit the ground. Hard, knocking him out cold.

When Lin opened the man cover, she saw that Spider-Man had left the scene of destruction, "I'll admit. That was quick thinking." she admitted to herself as her fellow police to check on her state of health.

…

Jason let out a hiss as he wrapped the bandages around his chest cavity. He wished that he had a chance to question Rhino about who have him the idea of trashing a good amount of the city. _Actually I really want to know how a guy that big got into Republic City without being spotted_. Jason thought as he wrapped the gaws around his bicep.

He took today off from school because he was so sore this morning he couldn't get out of bed. The radio had reported that Rhino was in custody and was in route to somewhere called The Vault, a maximum security prison that was housing dangerous criminals.

It was almost 7pm and Jason was feeling genuinely relaxed, "Maybe a day off from patrols isn't as bad as I thought." he said to himself as he put a long sleeve shirt on to cover his bruises. The dance was tonight, he realized that earlier today, and he wasn't sure about going or not.

He felt like his muscles where about healed, they where incredibly sore. So he could go...and Akiko's half serious threat was still in his mind. The teen began to pace the room, "It's just a dance. People go dancing all the time. What's the big deal? Normal guys do it all the time...well I'm not exactly normal." he said, looking up at the floor from the ceiling.

He dropped to the floor. And let out a sigh, "I don't have date...so what?" he said decisively, heading to his room to change into a new dress suit he had bought, per Akiko's orders. Hiding his spider suit under it, he got his hair as nice as he could before he headed out the door and towards the school.

…

The school dance was being held in the cafeteria, there where balloons attached to the tables that surrounded the dance floor. "Ok...this was a mistake." Jason said as he searched for Xang and his friends while music was played over the radios scattered throughout the room.

After searching the room for a bit, he caught sight of Xang and company waving over towards him. "Holy crap. I thought I'd never see the day." he said as Jason rolled his eyes.

"Shut up Xang." he said as he sat down with the other boys.

Kong gave the teen a smirk, "Don't let him get to you. By the way we saw your story." he said, passing the teen a cup of punch. Jason submitted his paper on his fight with Rhino though the mail to Stan at the Marvel. They published it this morning, and it was selling out all over the city.

"So what'd you think?" he asked as he sipped on his drink.

Lee smirked, "Ok you must be insane to get in the middle of all that." he said bluntly. Jason gave him a look, "But damn you give good stories." he added, making the teen smirk.

Xang nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I mean where could you possibly hide that they couldn't see you? They where evacuating people for a couple blocks from what I heard."

Jason tugged on the collar on his shirt, "Um...rooftop. They didn't check out the roof for people." he lied. It's not like they'll check out his accuracy.

"Are like obsessed with rooftops or something?" Jason saw his friends' jaws drop, the teen turned in his chair and felt his jaw nearly fall off his hinges as well.

Akiko was pretty. No pretty didn't begin to describe it, she was beautiful. Not like the other girls here, they looked nice, but Akiko blew them out of the water in Jason's eyes. Instead of her usual red and black, outfit she wore, she had a mainly black dress that went just above her knees, the bottom of her dress giving her legs enough room to move in any direction.

The dress made a X shape across her chest, the lower crossing showed her cleave, not that Jason was staring, and went around her shoulders and connected to her back. A small red rose was sewn into the center of the X on her front, "I'm surprised, I thought I scared you off Jason." she said.

Her hair was out of her usual ponytail and went down just past her shoulder blades, she had cherry lips and black eye liner, "I...I'm speechless." he said simply, making the girl giggle and Jason's blush increase.

Xang and the others could only silently cheer their friend on as he successfully talked to the stunning girl. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." she said, gesturing to his outfit. Jason blushed wildly, "Oh quit blushing dude. Come on let's dance." she said, pulling the embarrassed boy from his seat and basically dragged him to the dance floor.

"W-What? Akiko-" he started, his voice raising a octave.

She rolled her eyes, "Just imagine we're back at practice. Just relax. You look a little dorky with your face that red."

"Thanks for the boost in my confidence." he said in a deadpanned manner. It was a slow song and people all around the pair where swaying to the slow beat of the song.

"Your welcome." she replied as she put her hands around his shoulders. Jason had to hold back a wince, he was sore all over from his last fight. Touching is something he shouldn't be doing, but he put his hands on Akiko's waist nonetheless. The two slowly began to move to the music, "There ya go. Just like that." Akiko said supportively.

Jason couldn't help but smile at her words of encouragement, "So where were you today? I didn't think I was going to see you here." she explained as they turned in a miniature circle.

"Well did you hear about that Rhino story?" he asked, making Akiko stop dead and her eyes widen. "I'm fine! I got hit with a little debris of wood is all. I'm a tad sore but I'm fine." he explained, making her give him a wary look.

"Just...be careful from now on...I don't want to all those lessons to be a waste." she said.

"Uh huh. Lessons. That really makes me feel loved, really, I can feel all the affection just oozing off you." He said jokingly, making her roll her eyes with a tiny smile.

"You know what I mean...I...don't want to lose you...ok?" she said, her face turning the same color of her hair.

"Oh my god your blushing. It's a once in a lifetime miracle." he said, making her shoe hit his toe, "Ow! And you told me to watch my feet."

"Actually I told you to keep your eyes off of girl's breasts." she countered. Making Jason's face return to beat red once more. "Crap. I need to stop saying that word. If I do your going to be in a coma before we graduate." she said.

"Well what do I look at? That could be some helpful information. Instead of talking about the parts of girls that my mother awkwardly talked about to me when I hit puberty." he replied, his blush dying down.

"Well you can start with the face. Just don't stare. That's creepy." she advise as Jason fallowed her advise.

"What the hell do you mean don't stare? If I look at your face then I'm looking at your face continuously. And that's staring." he countered.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Well look at something specific...like her eyes, or her lips." she explained. Jason stared into her eyes for a few seconds as she stared back, they broke eye contact after a few moments when their cheeks turned red. Jason focused on her red lips.

The curve they had with she smirked, Jason couldn't help but stare at the flesh. It looked...welcoming. He felt heat rise to his cheeks, then he saw the small slice in the flesh that went from the skin above her lip to the tip of her bottom. "What happened to your lip?" he asked.

Akiko gave him a confused look, "What do ya mean? It's lipstick." she said, looking at him like he asked of she was a girl.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, he touched the part of his lip where the cut would be if it where him, "Right here. There's a small cut." he explained. Akiko touched the part of her lip that he instructed but missed where he meant, "No." he lightly scolded. He took her finger and moved it over to the cut, making her let out a small hiss.

"Oh...that." she said in a low voice. Her eyes darted away from his. She had been found out.

Jason softened his look, "Aki." he said plainly. Inviting her to tell him what had happened.

She sighed, "Remember those guys I told you about yesterday?" she asked, "I met their more violent brothers in arms yesterday." Jason's eyes widened at the word 'arms'. "Relax cowboy. I broke one of their noses and kicked another guy in the groin. They're not gonna hurt anyone else anytime soon I think." she said proudly.

"For some reason I'm suddenly a little scared of you right now." he said making her chuckle.

She leaned up to his ear, "I only hurt assholes. Your safe...for now."

"That's really reassuring Aki. Truely." Jason replied.

Xang and the others watched the scene play out in front of them, the earth bender let out a groan of annoyance, "Damnit I owe you ten bucks Kong." he muttered in defeat while Lee and the big man did a fist bump.

…

Jason and Akiko stood outside the school while they awaited Akiko's parents to arrive and pick her up. "We can just give you a lift. They won't mind Jason." she explained for the fifth time.

"I live a few blocks away. Walking is not going to hurt me. Besides by the time I get home I'll barely have enough time to study even of you give me a lift." he said.

Akiko let out a groan, "Oh god...any chance you can help me study for science?" she asked weakly.

Jason crossed his arms, "Well what do I get out of it?" he asked.

"More time with your favorite redhead?"

"Aren't you technically a red and black head?"

"Shut up. Are you helping me or not?" she asked/pleaded. Jason sighed and stayed silent for a moment for dramatic effect, "Only assholes keep girls in suspense. And remember what I do to assholes."

"So your place or mine?" Jason asked not a second after she spoke.

Akiko thought for a moment, "A change in scenery would be nice. Why not my place? I'll roll out the red carpet for ya."

Jason smiled and nodded, "Sure. But just remember-"

"Yeah yeah, hectic schedule, may not make it, blah blah blah, just say you'll try and I'll be satisfied." she said waving her hand nonchalantly.

"Hey little red!" the two teens themed to see a older boy with black hair that barely went over his eyes beside them. He had a brown leather jacket with black pants, his eyes where the same as Akiko's.

"Jason, meet my dumb brother Keito. Keito, Jason O-rou." she said, introducing the two men to one another.

Keito's eyes widened, "Wait, how did little red get a date?" he asked right before Akiko slugged his arm, "Gah! I swear I get hit every time I see you." he said rubbing his arm.

Akiko gave him a agitated look, "If you weren't such a jerk maybe I wouldn't. And stop calling me little red. Nobody me that in years."

"But I call you little red."

"Exactly. Your nobody. Get it?"

Jason could only watch as the two siblings took jabs at one another. _Good god and I asked my mother for a baby brother? What the hell was I thinking?_ the teen thought to himself. Keito turned to the other teen, "Anyway, thanks for making sure litt-Akiko, didn't get into trouble tonight."

Jason shook his head, "No problem. It's a full time job though-Ow!" he yelped out as Akiko slugged his shoulder. "Sorry, couldn't resist." he apologized.

Akiko stuck her tongue at the teen, "Whatever Jason. Look, I'll see you later...and thanks for the dance." she said quickly before dragging her brother towards his car.

Keito grinned and waved to the teen as he was dragged away, "Nice meeting you!" he called out.

"Likewise." Jason shouted back.

Jason stood there and watched until he saw Akiko get into the car with her brother and drive away. When they were out of his sight and the coast was clear, Jason took out his web shooters and shot a web to the streetlight and pulled himself ontop of it and began to jump his way home.

_Ok, so now I have a group of violent bending haters to deal with now...no problem._ He thought as he landed on a building rooftop.

_But first things first. I need to find the Kingpin._

**AN: Ok first off, Spider-Man can lift a maximum of 10 tons when he first gets his powers, and even more when he is under pressure. So the whole part of him lifting up Rhino is possible if he pushed himself. **

**And the kingpin may or may not be who you think it is. I'm just going to say that.**

**I really appreciate all the support that I've revived from you guys who have reviewed and I truely appreciate the feedback that I receive so thank you. And thank you for reading my story, I hope your all enjoying it!**

**Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

Nobody Stops The Sandman!

It was a busy day at the Daily Marvel, Jason was going at his typewriter like a madman, trying to finish his article on a little boy who ran to get some help for his mother who was in a car accident a mile away in a amazing amount of time. "Jeez Jason, you look like your going to have a aneurism. Calm down." Whitney advised as he pulled the hammer on the typewriter back.

"I got to get he ASAP. I need to get to a friend's house to help her study. It's a matter of my well being." he explained as he typed another sentence into the machine.

Whitney's eyes gained a teasing look to them, "Oooh, a girl? You sure that it's not a date?" she asked, making Jason only hammer away at his typewriter harder. "So how long has this been going on? Because if you two are meeting up at houses-"

"Stop your dirty mind Whitney it's nothing like that. I'm helping her study Science. Nothing about that subject is romantic, trust me I've spent a good deal of my life with my nose in books about them." Jason replied as he pulled the hammer back again.

"Well if I remember right, Biology was a _interesting_ thing to study." Whitney said, making Jason put his head on the desk and cover he ears.

"La la la I'm not listening to any of this! My young mind is already forever scared by my mother's sex talk with me." he said, his cheeks growing redder and redder. Whitney just laughed at her protégé, teenagers were just too fun not to tease them.

The reporter walked over to his side of the desk and looked over his paper, "Ok, tell you what, I'll finish this up, you get to your friend's house. Deal?" she asked.

Jason smiled, "Sure thing, I'm almost done anyway." he agreed as he stood to put his jacket on and grabbed his bag. "Thanks Whitney, I seriously owe you big time." he said gratefully.

Whitney smirked as she typed on the teen's paper, "Just get to your girlfriend's house." she said. Jason didn't bother to correct her, he knew that by now it'd be useless to try and say otherwise.

The teen was almost to the elevator when he felt a hand on his should, "Jason, can I talk to ya for a moment?" the teen turned to see the editor and chief of the newspaper himself.

"Sure thing Stan. What's up?" Jason admittedly was at first nervous around his boss because...well he was his boss. But now he and Stan get along like great friends. Stan was actually one of the nicest guys in the universe in Jason's eyes.

The two walked together towards the elevator, "You heard of Verrick Global Industries?" Jason's eyes widened, it was one of the biggest businesses in the entire world. It wasn't only shipping, but the R&D department of the business have helped made some of the biggest advancements like the radio, power plants, and tons of other things.

"Yeah, they're basically THE company of the world." Jason replied.

Stan nodded, "Right. And they're having a big showcase of art tomorrow at one of Verrick's galleries. And our art guy is out sick so I was hoping that you could fill in." he explained.

Jason gave the man a look, "Stan...I don't know anything about art."

The man waved his hand, "No one does. All I know is, that of someone thinks it looks like a dog, someone else says it looks like a cat. And those people are the only ones who read the art section and they're still readers. Please?" he asked, folding his hands together.

Jason couldn't help but laugh at the older man, "Ok, ok! Jeez don't twist my arm. But I'll tell you it's going to be bad." he said as he backed into the elevator.

Stan held his arms out and shrugged, "That just means that some will think it's decent!" he says as the elevator doors closed.

…

Jason stood outside of Akiko's home, it was a nice looking brick house that was sandwiched between two other buildings, barely enough room for someone to squeeze through. Jason walked up to the front door and knocked his fist lightly against the door.

A moment later the door opened to reveal a woman with dark black hair and brown eyes on her angular face. She had a casual brown dress with a red mini jacket on as well, "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm looking for Akiko? She asked I come here and help her study." he said. _Well it's more like she demanded I come here to study with her. _he thought to himself.

The woman smiled, "You must be Jason. I'm Kasuni, Akiko's mother. Come in, she's expecting you." she said, ushering the teen inside her home. Jason smiled and entered the home, the house was small, but welcoming. The house circled around a staircase that went upstairs into the bedrooms and bathrooms, "She's up in her room, first door on the right upstairs." she said, pointing to the staircase.

Jason gave her thanks and ascended the staircase, he approached the door with Akiko's name in paint on the white door. The teen knocked on the door, "Aki? It's me." Jason said to the wooden door.

The door quickly opened, revealing Akiko in a white shirt with paint splatters on it, "Finally. Come on in, I've been waiting forever." she said as she left the door open for her friend.

Jason closed the door behind him and looked around the room, "Holy crap." Jason muttered. The room was decorated with paintings, some of them where if scenes that Jasok recognized from the city, and others that looked like they where from another world. "Are...these yours?" the teen asked.

Akiko rubbed the back of her head as she sat on her bed, "Yeah...my mom got me a art set when I was five. I still do it when I can." she said, looking at one of the paintings of Central Park.

"Aki these are amazing." Jason stated, inspecting one of her works. The walls of her room where complete white, making the paintings pop out against them, the wooden floor had spots of paint across it as well.

Akiko blushed modestly, "Thank you...let's get to work." she said, pulling her bag out from under her bed and pulling her science book out. "Take a seat smarty pants." she said.

Jason took out his book as well, "Ok, chapter one, electricity."

…

"Jason please kill me." Akiko pleaded a few hours later. She was dangling her upper body off the side of the bed while Jason was going over his notes for chapter six. Jason was actually partially enjoying this, partially because it was revenge for all the times she made him uncomfortable, and also because he didn't mind science.

"Not now. We're getting to the fun part. Chemical equations." he said, making Akiko sit up straight and give him a glare.

"I hate you more than you can imagine right now. Who the hell likes this stuff!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air for effect. Jason smiled and raised his hand and Akiko sighed, "Sorry. I'm just bored." she said apologetically.

Jason smirked, "Trust me science is for a granted few. And I got to go to a stupid art show tomorrow for the paper so don't get me started on bored." he said, making Akiko lean towards him.

"You get to go to a art show! Which one?" she asked with excitement.

"Varrick's. He's got some art gallery thing and I got to attend and write a report on it. Our art guy is sick so-"

"Take me with you." Akiko interrupted.

Jason's eyes widened, "What? Akiko this isn't a place we can just meet to hang out, this is my job." he explained.

Akiko crossed her arms, "You still owe me for the dance lessons."

"That's what the studying was for!" he exclaimed.

"And they weren't fun in any way. At least we both enjoyed those lessons." she countered, sending a accusing finger at her friend. Jason opened his mouth to retort "And before you say otherwise I know you liked them." she added.

The teen gave her a confused look, "Wait, on what planet do you think that studying would possibly considered fun?" he asked. Akiko's mouth opened but closed it a second later, "That's what I thought." he said. Akiko gave him a pleading look, she stuck her lower lip out and lowered her head so he was looking down towards her.

The teen let out a sigh, "Fine. But-"

Akiko shut him up by wrapping her arms around his neck so tight he could barely breathe. "Thank you! You are the nicest guy I know!" she said while Jason struggled to get air in his lungs. After a few seconds Jason managed to pry her off him.

"Thanks. Now back to studying." he said, handing her book to her. Akiko let out a groan as she opened up the book to the page Jason had opened to as well.

After a few more minutes of studying, the knock at the door brought the two teens' heads to the door, Akiko's mother peered through the door, "Sorry to interrupt you two, but we wanted to know if Jason wanted to stay for dinner." she said, taking the boy by surprise.

Jason scratched the back of his neck as he inwardly debated if he had enough time to stay for dinner, Akiko nudged his arm, "Come on, my mom makes a mean thing of fire noodles." she goaded, making her mother smile at the praise.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go meet a friend of mine tonight...in fact I should probably get going." he said once he saw it was almost 7:30.

The woman nodded, "Of course, maybe next time. Aki. Don't pout, you look like a five year old when you do." she advised when her daughter puffed out her cheeks.

Jason grinned, "Finally! Someone agrees with me." he said, making Akiko smack his shoulder and her mother laugh.

"Come on, I'll see you out." the girl said as she sat up from her bed and walked with the other teenager to the door to her home. "So...thanks for letting me come with you tomorrow." and thanked once more.

Jason shrugged, "No problem. Who knows, if your good maybe I'll let you write the article yourself." he said jokingly, making Akiko lightly slap his arm.

"So whose your friend your meeting up with? And why didn't you mention him?" she asked, giving him a inquisitive look, usually the two told each other almost everything but recently Jason have been tight lipped about something. He was about to give a excuse to cover himself but the look that Akiko was giving him made it crumble.

Jason let out a sigh as they exited her house, "Look if I tell you. You can't tell anyone, alright? I'm dead serious." he warned, pulling her off to the side of the doorway. She nodded, "I'm...I'm helping Spider-Man go after the Kingpin." he admitted. _It's not a total dirty lie, only a little dirty lie_. The teen reasoned with himself.

Akiko just stared at Jason, "Whose that?"

Jason facepalmed, "He's a big bad guy. I'm giving Spider-Man all sorts of info on what we have at the Marvel." he explained. The office did actually have some info on what the Kingpin has been doing throughout the years.

Akiko's eyes widened, "Whoa wait a minute. Look I get that your all for doing the right thing and all but I don't want you to go risk your life!"

Jason shook his head, "Akiko. I'll be fine. I'm not in any danger." he said in a attempt to put his friend at ease. _It's better that she not know how involved I really am in Spidey's escapades and whatnot_. he thought to himself.

The girl crossed her arms and turned away from her friend as she went back to her home, "Jason...just promise me you'll be careful. Please?" she asked, her face not meeting his.

Jason looked down at his shoes, "I promise...that goes double for you. Ok?" he asked, the treat of her father still on his mind. _Now that I've seen what she has to lose...I want her to keep that_. the teen thought sadly.

Akiko turned her head and gave her a small smile, "Thanks. I will." she said before she retreated back into her house. Jason watched until her door closed before heading into the alley beside her home and changed into his Spider-Man costume.

…

"Screw you." Jackie said as poked his brother in his chest. Wei wanted him to give the name of who the Kingpin is, and everyone involved in the world of crime knows that of you screw with the Kingpin you will die. Not even as a treat, but as a promise.

Wei sighed, "Jackie-"

"No, don't 'Jackie' me. You know what happened to the last guy who messed with him? They cut him up, and shipped him to the four corners of the world just to show he could do it!" he exclaimed. The man ran a hand through his hair, he left the Agni Kai the night that Spider-Man trashed the Blue Dragon and joined up with Kingpin's crew.

He was higher than he was in the Agni Kai, not high to go to meetings with the man himself. "Jackie. We can protect you. With someone this high profile, we could set you up with a completely new identity. A new house, a new life." he said, trying to convince his brother.

The triad member sighed, "Tell you what. You keep the spider off my back and I'll do whatever you want." he said. No way he could possibly-

"Ok. Deal." Jackie jumped at the voice and looked up to see Spider-Man sitting on the wall, waving to Jackie, "Hi." he said simply.

The triad ran his hand through his hair again before looking at his brother, "You really want to take him down so bad, that you'd work with him?" he asked, pointing to the vigilante.

Wei nodded firmly, "Hell yes."

Jackie groaned, "Goddamnit. Fine, I don't know what he looks like, but I know who he right is. Joe Ping." he said, making Wei think of the name. "Let me help you out, remember that apartment building that burned down a few months ago that you got Dragon for?"

Jason's eyes went wife under his mask, The big guy in Zolt's apartment!? Holy crap...well at least he doesn't have a big ass Rhino suit. The teen thought to himself. "But wouldn't he be with the Agni Kai then?" Wei questioned.

Jackie shook his head, "Nah, nah don't you get it? What is the best way to keep tabs on the gangs that respect you, but don't know what you look like?" Jackie asked. "You join each one with a different name." he explained.

The three men stayed silent for a moment, "Ok can I just say that that's the most ingenious thing I've heard? Well that is unless one gang asks them to whack his other gang counterpart." he said, thinking it over.

Jackie pointed to Spider-Man, "That's the only flaw with it. Well that and you. Which is why he ordered someone to come take care of you." he said, making both Wei and Spider-Man's eyes widen.

"Well that's just great! What's next? A man whose a giant rat? Oh wait I know, a woman who can control deadly snakes." he rambled as he paced the side of the building.

Jackie looked at his brother questionably, "Is he like this much?"

"Yep."

"Look, this guy that is coming is called the Sandman. Big surprise, he's a sand bender. But here's the catch, he's literally controls it." Jackie explained, making Wei and Spider-Man look at him like he was crazy, "He surrounds himself in the sand and doesn't need to make any motions to control it. They call it a one in a million gift." Jackie explained.

"Some gift." Spider-Man muttered.

"Yeah. So if you want to take out the Kingpin, get the Sandman to flip on him. Let's face it, guy like me? Nobody will be believe a thing I say." Jackie said.

Wei sighed, "This is going to be hell explaining to Bei-Fong. Now listen up, you do not mention him." the detective said, pointing to the masked vigilante. "If she finds out he was apart of this, this whole thing is out the window." Wei explained.

Jackie rolled his eyes, "Yes. Fine. God your worse than mom."

…

"So let me get this straight. You have been getting information from the triads from your brother, who is also a triad, and he also helped you find out the locations and names of half the triads you've brought in? And now he's willing to flip on the Kingpin of crime himself? And a known criminal is on his way to the city to try and kill Spider-Man who also was payed by Kingpin to do so?" Lin asked the detective who was currently standing at attention in front of Lin's desk.

He gulped. Loudly, "Yes mam. And I know what this may cost." he said. He knew that this would cost him his badge, and possibly his freedom. But if he helped put someone like Kingpin away, it would be worth it.

Lin put her elbows on her desk and folded her hands together before closing her eyes, "This is a dangerous hand that your playing detective. You know that don't you?" she asked.

Wei nodded, "Yes mam."

Lin sighed as she slouched in her chair, "Believe it or not, I was in a similar position that you are now in when I first began here. In the end, the chief made a decision that I personally didn't like. But...as much as I hate to admit it...it probably was the best one." she said as she got up from her desk. "Meet me at city hall to talk to the DA tomorrow Captain."

Wei did a double take at the new title, "C-Captain?" he asked unbelievingly.

"Don't get this wrong. The next time you pull something like this I'll have your badge." Lin added as she opened and closed the door behind her c turning the lights off.

Wei just stood in the dark in a stunned silence for a few more minutes.

…

"So this is the guy?" the man asked, pointing to the masked vigilante in the photo that Joe Ping provided. Sandman, a.k.a. Marko, had a solid green shirt, shaved head, and tan pants with workers boots. He was a very skinny man, he had some meat on her bones but he could possibly win a fair fight. If there was such a thing.

Kingpin nodded, "Yes, believe me he's more capable than you think. He's taken down all our other resources, Rhino, Kraven, the enforcers, and that Vulture guy a while back. Though that one wasn't ours, but it just shows how resourceful he is. Be wary Marko." he warned.

The man nodded, "Don't worry. I'll crush that little bug. I can promise you that."

…

Akiko tapped her foot impatiently against the sidewalk, she was across the street from the gallery waiting for Jason to show up. _He's ok, it's Jason. How much trouble could he possibly...never mind_. she thought, thinking about his smart mouth.

Another car pulled up to the side of the gallery, out stepped councilman Tarrlock, he waved to the gathering crowd outside the building before heading inside, "Maybe I child run back home and put a dress on." she said aloud. Akiko wore a white long sleeve shirt under a light red tank top. She had black pants that went down to her ankles.

Her hair didn't leave much room for her wardrobe. "Don't worry I've gone to fancier things in worse." Jason said from behind her, making her jump.

"God you ass!" she yelled as she hit the laughing teen.

"Sorry! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Come on, let's go in." He said as he took her hand and lead her to the front door of the building.

Akiko's eyes widened, "Wait we're just walking through the front door? Where all the important people go in?" she asked, suddenly nervous about being in the spotlight.

Jason shrugged, "As far as they believe, your just another snobby reporter." he said as they walked on the edge of the red carpet. Jason pushed open the door as Akiko tried to hide her face from the rich and almost famous. The interior of the building had pieces of art that made Jason get a headache and Akiko's jaw drop.

"Oh my god, that's a original Dai-Sung! How did they get that?" she asked as the two went over to a thing of metal that was bent into the shape of a man with claws at the end of it's hands. "That's the wolf badger. One of his originals. Part of his first class series." Akiko explained as she looked over the art piece.

Jason couldn't help but smile at the girl's astonishment, "You really love art huh?" he asked as they walked trough the gallery, Akiko looking over some of the pieces and focusing on a few key ones.

She came to a stop by a portrait of a man hand standing on a TNT plunger with the fuse leading off the paper, Akiko twirled with a lock of her hair near her ear, "Firebending is the only element that can destroy and nothing else. I want to do something that most firebenders don't think of." she explained, pulling her finger out of her hair.

Jason gave her a look of sympathy, "God I'm sorry, I didn't-"

She waved him off, "It's no big deal. My dad's a firebender, same as me. Big whoop." she said positively.

Jason smiled at the girl's positive outlook, Maybe I could learn a thing or two from her. Jason thought as he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, "Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Jason and Akiko turned to see Whitney Chang of all people.

"Whitney? What are you doing here? Did Stan send you?" he asked the reporter.

She shook her head, "Nah, one of my guys says that the Kingpin himself is going to be here." she said looking around the room, her eyes landing on Akiko, partially hiding behind Jason, "So she's that girlfriend of yours."

Jason and Akiko's faces turned beat red, "Whitney!" Jason exclaimed to the grinning woman.

"Relax." she said pushing past him and facing the other girl, "I'm Whitney Chang, Jason's my ward in the world of newspapers." she said, gesturing to the teen beside her.

"I like sidekick better." he said as he scanned the room for Joe Ping.

Akiko smiled at the woman, "I'm Akiko Rupa. Nice to meet you." she said politely.

Whitney gave a smirk to Jason, "Good choice kid. Now if you excuse me I got a few people to interview." she said as she went into the crowd.

Akiko's face was still pink from Whitney's 'girlfriend' comment, as was Jason's, "I bet she get's kicked out in five minutes. Tops." he said.

Akiko gave him a look, "Has it happened before?" she asked curiously.

"Ohhhhh you got no idea. One time we went to this press interview and age was kicked out a few minutes later." he explained.

Akiko smirked, "Glad to know I'm with the polite one." she said, grateful that there was a decreased chance of her getting kicked out of the gallery. Jason looked over to where councilman Tarrlock was talking to a few more white collar men and women.

"Hold that thought." he said as he began to make his way towards the councilmenand his bodyguard. Much to Akiko's horror, _He's going to die_. _And I was worried about Spider-Man being the end if him._

"And with the recent decrease in crime, I feel that me and my friends on the council will be to finally close down to the triads thanks to the help of the esteemed chef of police and her capable men." Tarrlock said to his gathering crowd.

Jason approached the councilmen but his bodyguard stepped right in his way, sneering at the teen. Jason raised his hands in a submitting fashion, "I was just going to ask for a comment on the recent attacks from super villains." he said, loud enough for Tarrlock to hear.

The councilman patted his bodyguard's shoulder, "It's alright, I like this young man's brass." he said, ushering the guard away. The councilmen turned to the teen and flashed a award winning smile, "The police have put these so called, 'super villains' in maximum security. They won't be getting out of jail anytime soon. And if they do the police are more than capable of putting them back in their cages."

Jason raised a questioning eye, "But isn't Spider-Man is the one who captured them in the first place? If it weren't for him could they have even caught someone like The Vulture?"

Tarrlock rolled his eyes, "Let me share something with you young man. Spider-Man is just as bad as these men that he claims to put away. He assaults suspects, and he interferes with police work, frankly he's just a bad influence." he said.

Jason had to hold back a sneer, "And most of the people that Spider-Man out away are incredibly dangerous. Kraven, Electro, Vulture, Rhino, and not to mention all the dangerous criminals that he puts away." the teen defended himself. Well his alter ego...so yeah himself.

Tarrlock sighed, "It's true that he's assisted the police in a small sense. But he breaks the law to do so, how does that make him any better than a common criminal?" he asked.

"Like me and the council have said, Spider-Man is nothing more than another criminal. Soon he'll be where he belongs. In a cage with the scum of the city. Where he belongs." The councilman stated before leaving the teen to go back to the crowd of white collars.

Jason walked back to Akiko who was gawking at him, "Who the hell are you and what have you done with the likable little nerd that I know?" she asked, pointing a accusing finger at the boy.

"Little? Your as tall as me!" Jason pointed out.

Akiko smiled, "Sorry, but...you where...assertive back there. It's weird seeing you like that." she explained as they began walking around the gallery.

"I thought girls like assertive guys." Jason stated, confused by Akiko's response.

Akiko tilted her hand side to side, "Sorta. But seeing you do it...it's just surprising is all." she explained, "Makes me wonder all the things that I don't know about you." she asked.

Jason felt his costume get a bit heavier as she said that. Deep down a part of him wanted to tell Akiko, hell anyone really, about his double life. Keeping it all bottled up isn't good for him, and he knows it. But he doesn't want to put all his troubles on someone else's shoulders as well as his own.

"Well I don't think I know everything about you either. But that's the thing about friends, you learn all sorts of things about them that you'd never think." Jason said wisely. If he never met Akiko and just saw her sitting at a table or something, he probably would have thought she'd treat him like most of the other girls in his grade do; act like he's not even there.

Akiko smiled, "Exactly...so...this isn't a date. Right?" she asked nervously, making Jason blush, "No offense! But it's just...us here. Spending time together, enjoying ourselves." she trailed off.

Jason felt his collar get warm all of a sudden, "Wait I should be asking you that! It was your idea to come here." he retorted.

"I'm not asking that, I'm asking if we should consider this a date." she clarified, stopping at a model of a policemen with a industrial vacuum cleaner sweeping a map of Republic City.

Jason cleared his throat, "Well I just thought that were two friends, one of witch bribed her friend to take her here, wifi are enjoying themselves." he said.

"And the guy of the two is to much of a wallflower to ask a girl out." she piped in cockily.

"That too. So you don't have anything to worry about. Why? Xang give you a offer or something?" Jason asked, curious about her sudden interest in their friendly relationship.

She leaned her back against the wall, "Well first Xang asks if we're going steady, then your friend Whitney makes her comments. Makes me wonder what your saying about me." she said all too innocently.

Jason grinned, "I've told them nothing but the truth. Your a girl who broke my nose and felt bad about it who now hangs out with me. And don't worry about Whitney, she does that no matter how many times I say otherwise. And I do that a lot." he explained.

Akiko giggled at that, "You make it sound like all your friends used to pick on you...they didn't right?" she asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Well actually Xang used to bully me..."

Akiko plinth chef the bridge of her nose, "Jason. You are a strange guy. You know that?"

Before he could respond, the crowds that littered the gallery moved their way to the front doors.

Verrick had arrived.

The man steeped out of his limousine, he wore a dark purple coat that had white fur sticking out. He had a blue suit under his coat that had a green tie and white dress shirt. "Ladies and gentleman! Thank you for coming to my gallery!" he called out as he entered the building with a wide grin on his face. He turned on a heel and threw his arms out, "Just remember, the only good art is what you think is crap! So find the best piece of crap here and admire the hell out of it!" he called out, making the guests laugh.

Jason and Akiko shared a smile as the man went on, "He's not what I expected." Jason said while he took turns shaking peoples hands with his own.

…

Marko walked down the street of Republic City as he neared his target, getting this Spider-Man on his tail was just the same for getting the police's attention. Make a big enough splash in the water and people are going to see what's up.

Marko wore a beige trench coat that was a few sizes too big for him as he walked down the street, he smiled as his location came into sight, "Perfect." he said as he headed towards the alleyway beside the art gallery.

The guard at the side entrance saw him immediately, "Hey pal look, front's the only way in-" Marko's coat sleeve began to shift. Before the guard could do anything about it, the man shot his arm out, his coat sprang to life and the sand made a hand that grabbed his face and slammed his head into the wall.

Marko shifted the sand back into the shape of a coat and opened the side entrance to the gallery.

…

"Did you hear that?" Akiko asked, looking around for the source of the strange noise she heard.

Jason shook his head, "No, what was it?" he asked curiously. He could barely hear anything over the noise of the crowd. He was pretty surprised he could hear Akiko alone.

She shook her head, "Sounded like a guy hot a anvil dropped on his head." she said disbelievingly. Jason crossed his arms and gave her a look, "What?"

"I'm just trying to guess how on earth you would know what that sounds like." he said, amused by the look she giving him.

Before she could retort, one of the guards was flung through the air and was sent crashing into one of the displays, making the crowd start to panic. From the doorway which the man was thrown from emerged a Marko. Tarrlock's bodyguard drew water from his deal pouch from under his arm and made spikes with it.

Marko saw the sharp shards of ice and shifted the sand into a hard rick and shot it at the guard's gullet, knocking the wind out of him, he was then knocked on the back of his head and was knocked into the ground.

The crowd cried out at the scene, the entire room estates to go into a panic before Marko stomped his foot on the ground loudly, making the room go silent, "Listen up! I'm not gonna hurt anyone else here unless they give me trouble." he said partially calming the crowd.

Jason on the other hand was edgy, he needed to change into Spider-Man and get Akiko out of harms way quickly. Akiko was surprisingly calm, but her body was shaking a little, Jason lightly put a hand on her shoulder, "Come on." he said, slowly pulling her towards the doorway leading around the main room that they where in.

"What!? Jason-" she whispered back harshly.

"All I want is Spider-Man." Marko said, loud enough so that everyone could hear him. Jason and Akiko stopped in their tracks. _Sandman_. Jason thought, everything clicking into place. Akiko 'a hand slid back towards the spider tracer in her back pocket but Jason's hand stopped hers when she reached the pocket.

"That thing may make a sound. We get somewhere safe then press it." Jason advised, he knew that the device was silent but he just needed a excuse to get Akiko out of harm's way.

Akiko thought it over before nodding in agreement, "Ok yeah, good idea...um Jason...could you take your hand off my butt?" The teen looked down to see that his hand was over her back pocket.

He flushed deep red and quickly withdrew his hand and muttered a apology, making Akiko crack a small smile. "Ok Casanova, how do we get out of here?" she asked.

Jason didn't have a clue. _Come on Spidy luck, work your magic_.

…

The police arrived a few moments later, the crowd had begun to settle down, Vertick in particular who was taking to Sandman directly, "So it's sand?" he asked, poking the sand that was hovering around the thug. He simply nodded, making Verrick clap his hands together, "I love it! How much do you want for it? Two thousand? No wait! Four!"

The two teens where sitting on the floor by the doorway, Sandman instructed all the guests to stay in front if him so they don't try anything. Jason looked over to Akiko, "Now." he whispered as they slowly moved to the doorway to the side of the building.

Sandman was too busy trying to usher Verrick away, no matter how tempting his offers, to notice the two slip away. Jason helped his friend off the ground, "Ok, come on." he says, taking her hand and pulling her down the hall past the room where Sandman was.

"Was he really trying to buy that guy's sand?" she asked, still in disbelief of what the two of them witnessed. It's not everyday that something like this happens in her life.

Jason peeked around the corner and saw a broom closest, "Perfect. Come on." he said, pulling her towards the closet and opening the door, gesturing to go inside. Akiko just looked at the room and back at Jason, "What the hell are you waiting for! Get in, call Spider-Man!" he ushered.

Akiko gave him a form look, "I swear to god you try anything while we're in here O-rou and I'll forget my no Firebending rule and burn you on a stick." she warned as she entered the closet.

"Don't worry." he said, closing the door with her inside. "I'm staying out here." he said before he pushed himself against the door.

"What!" Akiko yelled from the other side, "Are you crazy! Get your but in here now!" she demanded. On the other side if the door, Jason had webbed the door shut so she couldn't open it and was changing into his Spider-Man suit.

"Aki he's not a idiot. He'll notice if two of us are missing. I'll go back and if he asks he'll just think he miscounted." Jason explained as he slipped his gloves on.

"Jason-"

"Don't argue alright!" he demanded, making the girl back away from the door. Jason sighed, "I'm sorry...but your safer in there than out here. Call Spider-Man. He'll get us out of this." he said, sliding the mask over his eyes.

Akiko took a shaky breath and went back up against the door, "Don't...don't die...ok? Promise me." she pleaded, making Jason feel a million times worse.

"I promise Aki...stay safe. I'll see you when it's all over." Jason said reassuringly. He pulled the mask down over his mouth and headed back to the main room where Sandman was just as the spider racer sent out a signal.

Spider-Man jumped to the ceiling and crawled his way into the main gallery room. "You can offer me a million Yuans, the sand won't even do it for anyone but me." Sandman explained to the annoying man. Why couldn't they have hired me to kill this guy? he wondered as Verrick was about to try another pitch.

"Really? A well working thug like you turning down all that money? Now I've heard everything." the entire room looked up on time to see Spider-Man crash feet first into Sandman, knocking him back across the floor. Spider-Man turned to the people, "That's your guys' cue to run. Just to let you know." he said, making the people all run out the front doors.

The masked teen turned to see Sandman stand back up, "Cheap shot." he said, running his chest from the impact.

"So is taking hostages. Now your the Sandman? Is that really the best name you could come up with?" he mocked before Marko made the sand into a club and sent it towards Spider-Man.

The teen shot a web to the ceiling and swung himself around the attack towards Marko as the trench coat covered his entire body, face included. The teen's attack connected with his head but Sandman shrugged it off, "Uhh, on second thought, keep the title, it'll work for ya." he said before sandman shot his arm out across the space between them and grabbed Spidy by his arm and tossed him aside.

The teen landed by a case made completely made out of jewels, the impact made the pedestal it was on waver and made the vase fall. Jason was quick and shot a web at the ground and visioned the fall, "Hey you break it you buy it!"

Sandman made his hand into a mallet, "Mommy." Jason muttered before he was smashed clean through the wall his back was to. The teen rose from the derbies as Sandman walked through the hole in the wall, Jason cocooned the man in webbing before he jumped towards the man and began his attack. He punched the man in the face repetitively and then fallowed up with a uppercut, apparently to no affect whatsoever.

The teen's eyes widened as the webbing expanded until he bust the webs apart. _Ok so just hitting the crap out of the guy isn't going to get me anywhere_. Jason thought. Sandman outstretched his arms and clasped them together where Spider-Man stood, thinking quickly, Jason jumped over Marko, grabbing the sides of his head in the process, and landed in his feet before tossing the man back through the wall.

"Ha! See how it feels?" he yelled towards the man. Sandman stood up and made one hand into the mace again, and the other into a hammer, "I need to learn to shut up." Spider-Man said to himself.

Sandman nearly flew across the floor towards Spider-Man, he swung the hammer sideways, the teen ducked under the hammer and jumped out of the way of the mace. He landed on his hands and pushed himself off the ground, crashing his feet into the man's face.

He balanced himself on his head and brought punches down onto the man's head, Sandman swung hammer up over his head and sent him crashing into a statue. "That's on you..ow...not me." he said as he got back up. The model that he crashed into was the one of the policeman and the vacuum cleaner, _Wait...what the hell? At this point anything is worth a shot._ Jason thought as he grasped the hose.

Sandman looked at him for a moment before bursting out a laugh. "You honestly think that-" Spider-Man flipped the switch on the hose. The machine came to life and the teen pointed the machine at the man the sand left his body, much to the shock of the both of them.

The teen and man could only watch as the sand retreated into the machine, leaving the skinny man utterly defenseless. The vigilante dropped the vacuum and sprayed webs at the man. Trapping him for good this time, "Ok Sandman. Your going to tell the police who hired you." Jason said, walking over to the man and grabbing his collar, lifting him off the ground.

The man smirked, "What makes you think I'm working for someone?" he asked.

Jason smiled cockily under his mask, "I know Joe Ping is the Kingpin." he stated, making Marko's eyes widen and pupils shrink, "Now, you tell them who he is, and maybe you don't go to jail for as long. You didn't hurt anybody too badly." Spider-Man explained as he put him down.

Marko sighed, "Look this was just a job. It was supposed to be a big score for me but that's obviously not gonna happen. So what the hell. Sure." he said in defeat.

Jason gave the man a look of pity, "Look...what's your name?" the teen asked.

"Marko."

"Look Marko, this could have gone much worse. And who knows, if you tell the cops about Joe Ping, they may cut you some slack." Spider-Man explained. The man only stayed silent as he let the new info sink in.

Spider-Man could only sigh, turning criminals around isn't his area of expertise.

…

_What the hell is going on out there? It sounds like the world's coming to a end!_ Akiko thought as she put her ear up to the door. The sounds of breaking walls and art almost made her want to go out there and help Spider-Man but she then thought of how way sly Sandman dealt with the guards.

The sounds of the doorknob turning make her jump back from the door. Without thinking, Akiko grabbed the cosset thing and readied herself to fight, the door opened to reveal a familiar masked face, "Akiko, there you are." Spider-Man said, bringing a feeling of relief over Akiko.

"Why do you have a plunger?" he asked, pointing to the object in her hands.

The girl dropped it and shuttered, "Ewwwwwwww. Gross!" she said whipping her hands on her pants. The teen smiled under his mask at the girl's antics, her expression turned serious after she realized something, "Jason! Is he-"

Spider-Man put a calming hand in her shoulder, "He's fine, I got him out of hers first." he said. He had his clothes stashed on the rooftop next door in a web bag, he'll just take a minute to change and meet back up with her.

Akiko let out a breath of relief, "Oh thank god...thank you." she said gratefully. Jason felt a blush on his cheeks, seeing that she cared about him that much, "I swear to god I'll kill him next time I see him." she said half jokingly. _And just like that, the magic is gone._ Jason thought.

"Come on, let's get out of here." he said, moving aside so she could leave the closet.

"Thank god. I was getting so board I thought of reading the ingredients for all the cleaning supplies." Akiko said as she walked with Spider-Man towards the exit.

The two exited the building, Akiko spotting her parents in crowd ran to them, "Mom! Dad!" she exclaimed as she ran into her mother's arms. Her step father wrapped his arms around the girl with a great smile on his face.

"Thank the sprits your alright." Kasuni said against her daughter's hair.

Jason smiled under his mask at the woman's relived face, "Spider-Man." the masked teen turned to see councilman Tarrlock with a award winning smile, "I can't begin to say how grateful I am that you showed up when you did." You have got to be joking. Jason thought to himself.

The man stood directly in front of the hero while the onlookers and police watched the scene unfold, "Spider-Man, I hope that your not bitter about the discussions that the council have made about you. I just hope you can understand that I personally don't rule with their decisions." he held out a hand, "I hope we can put it behind us."

Spider-Man's lens reflected the outstretched hand, "No thanks." he says before turning his back on the councilman, much to his and the surrounding people's shock. "I know better than to make deals with the devil." he stated.

As Spider-Man said these words, Tarrock's other hand went behind him, uncorking his seal pouch. "In sorry to hear that Spider-Man."

Time seemed to stop for a minute, Jason felt...something. It was like his head was buzzing...or tingling. And what was strange is that it felt like it was tugging itself backward towards Tarrlock. The teen's instincts took over and he leaned his upper body backwards completely, watching in slow motion as the blast of water soared through the air where his head was.

Spider-Man threw his arms out by his head and pressed his web shooters, spraying the councilman to the wall.

The crowd couldn't believe what they just saw, Tarrlock tried to attack Spider-Man when his back was turned.

"Really! That's how your gonna be about it?" the masked teen asked as Tarrlock struggled to get out if the webbing, "That was just a dirty move." he said as he stood upright and turned to the man webbed in place.

Tarrlock sneered at him, "Your the criminal here Spider-Man. I've done nothing wrong." he said loud enough so that the crowd could hear him.

"Bullshit!"

"You assaulted him!"

"They should lock you up!"

"He's a hero!" Akiko yelled along with the crowd. Her mother and stepfather giving her their support by nodding along with her.

Jason almost laughed at the look of surprise on Tarrlock's face, "Guess the public had a different opinion. Don't worry, I won't press charges." he said as he walked towards the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen , thanks for your support! But it's late, we're all probably tired and hungry and I gotta go so see ya!" he yelled as he swung into the air, the crowd cheering below him as he swung in a full circle and disappeared over the gallery building.

Akiko looked up to her mother, "Did you see Jason out here?" she asked. She took Spider-Man's word and all but she still wanted to make sure that he was safe.

Kasuni gave her daughter a confident look, "I'm sure Jason is fine honey."

"Course I am." the two turned to see the boy in question a few feet way. Akiko broke her mother's embrace and gave the teen a glare that would scare Rhino out of his armor, "Uhhh...hi?" he supplied weakly. Akiko slapped him, "GAH! What the hell!?"

Akiko then started slugging his arm when he started to rub the side of his face where he was slapped, "How! Damn! Stupid! Are! You!" she yelled at the teen who was trying to block the hits but failing.

"Aki! Gah! Please stop!" he pleaded as she stopped hitting him, "Jeez. I am sorry. I really am sorry that I tricked you like that." he apologized.

Kasuni watched the two banter back and forth, "So that's the boy who Aki keeps telling us about?" Huang asked. She met Huang shortly after she left her first husband, he worked as a psychiatrist at a clinic near the center of the city. He had short black hair that stood up straight on the top of his head, he wore a grey suit and pants with white shirt.

Kasuni nodded, "Yep. So what do you think?" she asked. She and him had been guessing if her daughter and the boy were close as she was saying if not closer.

The man watched as Akiko scolded the teen for his behavior, he was genuinely sorry for doing that for her, but he was also happy that he did for her safety. "Too soon to tell honey." he said as Jason tried to apologize again.

The teens walked back to her parents , Akiko dragging Jason over, "He's fine. He's a idiot but he's fine." she said, gesturing to the boy with the red mark forming on his cheek. "Jason this is my dad, Huang." she said, introducing the boys to one another.

Jason shook the man's hand, "Jason O-rou. Nice to meet you sir." he said politely.

The man smiled, "Pleasure's all mine. That offer for dinner is still on the table if your up for it." he offered.

Jason thought for a moment, after today, being normal for a night sounds pretty nice to him right about now, "That sounds like something that I haven't had in a while...why not?"

As the four agreed to dinner plans and Tarrlock was being pulled out of the webbing, for the first time in a long time, no one saw Verrick exit the building with a contemplative look on his face. "Sir are you alright?" the man turned to his faithful assistant Zhu Li asked.

The man nodded, a small smile playing on his lips, "Actually. I think I found what I'm looking for." he said as his car pulled up to the side of the curb. He had witnessed the entire fight between the two from a doorway leading into the room.

The two entered the back of the limo, "Zhu Li. What do you think the sticker price on powers like that?" he questioned.

…

Jason sat on the roof of his apartment building in full costume, the Kingpin was done. The police took down all of Kingpin's operations, and the best part was that he felt a major hit to crime.

Dinner with Akiko's family was nice, the dinner was filling and conversation ranged from what transpired at the gallery to what Jason planned to do after graduation. Akiko and her family were surprised by the fact that he said he was thinking of going to work at Future Industries for a R&D job.

But what stayed on Jason's mind throughout the rest of the day was that strange sensation that he had in the back of his head. There was absolutely no reason for him to suspect Tarrlock would do that, but that...sense in the back of his head saved his life.

The teen shrugged it off, _Probably my reflexes acting up or something_. he thought before he jumped off the building and shooting a web to a slanted rooftop and swinging down the street.

…

Captain Wei was proud to make a arrest that day.

Joe Ping sat in his cell with a frustrated look on his face. He thought that Sandman would be the man to take care of the bug, but instead he turns a dime on him and now he's in a cell for a good part of his life. His cell was separate from the bull pen where the usual criminals are locked up, it was just as big as the pen though, except the outside was completely pitch black.

The sound of the door buzzer made the man lift his head up to the door. Councilman Tarrlock entered, "So. We finally got you." he said triumphantly.

Joe Ping walked to the edge of the cell, "Well the spider did. You just sat on your asses." he spat back at the councilor.

Tarrlock gave him a blank look, "They're not listening. You'll be out by the end of the month. A new name, new identity, everything." he said as he began to make his way back towards the door. Joe Ping bowed to the man as he grabbed the door handle.

"Thank you. Kingpin."

Tarrlock smiled at his name as he left his right hand man in the cell.

**AN: Ha! Got you guys didn't I? Well I hope I did at least. **

**Now a few things about Sandman's fight. One, he defeated Sandman the exact same way in his first appearance, I have the comic itself in my possession to back me up on this. Two, Marko gained his powers from radioactivity, and as far as we know the Avatar world has yet to go that far technologically speaking. Three, I know Marko isn't a good name for a avatar character. I'm sorry.**

**And four and this has nothing to do with Sandy, Yes, Aki's stepdad is based off the L&O SVU character George Huang. He's my third Fav character in SVU fallowed by Munch and Stabler. **

**Thank you all for reading and I love it when you guys leave reviews and I truely appreciate the feedback you guys who give it. **

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

Family Matters

It had been a few days since the Sandman incident at Verrick's gallery. It was Exam week at Jason's school and the students where cramming left and right just to make sure they didn't do too bad. Jason on the other hand was finding barely any trouble with his Exams. Unlike Xang, Kong, Lee, and Akiko. "I want to punch you so bad." the girl said menacingly to the teen who was casually eating lunch.

The other occupants of the table looked like they went through a war zone, their cloths where a mess, bags under their eyes, and they all felt like sleeping. Jason on the other hand looked like he did everyday, and it annoyed the others to no end, "Akiko. If anyone is gonna punch him, it'll be me." Xang stated.

Jason raised his hands in defense, "Hey I'm not even doing anything but eating lunch!" he stated, pointing to his bag of lunch for emphasis.

Kong gave the teen a frustrated look, "You barely broke a sweat on the science exam yesterday, and you got done with the history one in no time flat. Sorry if we're a little jealous." he said with a bit bitterness in his voice. The teen looked down at his bag, hurt a little by the big man's words

Akiko shook her head, "We're just mad and cranky Jason. Don't take it so seriously, it's the middle of the week and everyone just wants Exams to be over and done with." she explained, folding her arms together on the table and using them as a pillow.

Jason patted her hand, "It's not you it's me." he added jokingly, making her crack a small smile at his joke.

Xang put his head in the table. _Those two better do something soon or I'll go insane._ the jock thought as the teen withdrew his hand, "Well look on the bright side, next week is our week off from school. And the Autumn solstice is the day after tomorrow." Lee supplied, getting nods from the group members.

Jason felt like he just missed something, "Wait. What's today's date?" he asked, putting his sandwich down. _I swear to god that I'm forgetting something but I just can't remember what._ the teen thought.

Kong put his head in his hands, "I just got my math exam done. I don't want to see another number let alone hear it." he said, making Xang and Lee roll their eyes. Akiko looked like she was about ready to fall asleep, lunch tables are apparently comfortable.

"It's October 22nd." Xang said.

Jason felt like he was just thrown through a entire building that was already crumbling.

It was Ava's birthday.

"Oh..." Jason said in a low voice. _How the hell could I forget? I mean...god...mom. Jason thought sadly. She'd be...35 this year today if...if I hadn't..._

"Jason? Are you ok man?" Xang asked, Jason looked up to the face of his concerned friend, the whole group was looking at him with with looks of worry and concern.

Before he could say anything, he felt something slid down the side of his face, the teen touched the side of his face and withdrew his hand, his fingertips where wet from the tears going down the sides of his face. "Jason?" Lee asked.

The teen sighed, "It's my Mom's birthday." he said simply before packing up his food and standing abruptly as his friends gave him a shocked look.

Akiko could only wince as the teen slammed his paper bag into a waste bin. "Jason..."

The teen had a hour and a half before he was needed in class to take his exam. And he had a dire need to hit something to get rid of his frustrations.

…

Jason flew through the air towards the side of a building, landing on the side of it, Jason broke out in a sprint across the side of the building. When he reached the edge of it he jumped off and attached a webline to the building ahead of him, the teen shot a webline to a building on his left, heading towards his old apartment building.

Jason wasn't in his costume but since it was the middle of the day and he was so high up in the air he was certain that no one could see his face. The teen jumped off the end of his line and flew into the air towards the rooftop of a buildings he landed into a slow jog towards the edge. In the distance where construction cranes that where working to repair the old apartment building.

Jason hadn't even been to the ld neighborhood since the fire only to get what little remained of his belongings. Where was not much to begin with. "Zolt...I swear wherever you are, I'll find you." the teen said with determination. He couldn't do this now of course but he still tries to find him when he can.

_He's here in the city somewhere. I'll find him someday._ Jason thought to himself as he sat on the ledge of the building, _So what do I do today? It's not like...I ever thought of this. I'll go see her after I get done with exams today, I'm sure her spirit would like that._ the teen thought before turning back towards the school and jumping off the building.

The teen attached a web to the wall ahead of him, but then he felt something in the back of his head again like with Tarrlock a few days ago, it pointed down towards the streets below. _What the hell-_

"Help! My purse!" a woman called out from the streets below. _Ok yeah I need to get this thing in my head checked out ASAP. But now, save the day. _Jason thought as he landed on the ledge of a rooftop and ran alongside the man in the streets below. The teen shot webs at the man's feet and strung him upside down, dropping the purse on the street.

The teen stuck the end of the web to the side of the building before jumping to the top of a flagpole, he used his momentum to flung himself to anther roof, landing on his hands, he pushed himself off the ground to the side of a water tower. "Ok. I better find out what the hell is going on in my head." Jason said with concern as he rubbed the back of his head where he felt it.

"On second thought. I can deal with this whole thing later. Exams first. Weird tingling in the back of my head later...heh, tingling." he said smirking at the funny word. The teen jumped from the water tower to a deserted alleyway before walking out onto the sidewalk and heading to the high school.

…

The teen focused on his Math exam. Kong was right, this was more harder than he was lead to believe. Akiko sat beside him while the teacher walked down the rows of desks, she looked over to see the emotionless look on the teen's face. Xang was about to go after him once the teen had left, but she stopped him, saying that it's better that he deal with it on his own first before anyone else getting involved.

She knew that Jason was strong for someone his age. She remembered to how she told her step father about Jason's experience, _"In most cases, when someone losses someone close to them they confide in a friend or family member. But in cases like Jason, he keeps it to himself so he doesn't make them carry that burden."_ is what he said.

Akiko took another glanced over at the boy as she guessed C for her next answer. _Jason...at least look at me._ she thought while he turned the page over on his answer sheet.

…

Jason walked out the school doors at a brisk pace. He could barely concentrate all day with both his mother's birthday and weird sensations in the back of his head on his mind. "Jason hold up!" the teen turned to see Akiko catching up to him. "Hey..." she said quietly.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Hey...look I'm sorry I took off like that." he apologized.

She shook her head, "Jason you don't need to be...how you holding up?" she questioned as the two walked down the sidewalk together.

The young hero sighed as he ran a hand over his face, "I'd be lying if I told you I was on top of the world." he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. Akiko gave him a worried look, "I'm not doing too well." he said honestly.

Akiko put her hand on his shoulder, "Jason you didn't start that fire. You couldn't have known-"

"Aki." Jason interrupted, "I could have done something. But I chose not to. I may not get all the blame, but I deserve some of it." he stated as he came to a halt on the sidewalk with the girl beside him. "I could have done something Aki...if I did...she'd still be alive..." tears started sliding down his cheeks again. Just the thought of the woman made his heart feel heavy.

Akiko gave him a hard look, "Jason." she stated, making the teen turn to her. The girl moved to the front of the boy and wrapped her arms around his frame, "Stop what your thinking, stop thinking that this is your fault. Stop thinking like that...please for god's sake just stop." she pleaded, putting her head in the nook of his shoulder.

Jason stayed still for the longest time, slowly, he raised his hands and wrapped his arms around her waist and embraced her tightly. "Aki...I'll try...that's all I can say." he said, putting his head on her shoulder as well.

Akiko couldn't help but smile, "That's about as far as I'll get you isn't it?" she asked, pulling away and looking at Jason's now relaxed face.

He flashed her a smile, "Thanks Aki." he said gratefully.

The two teens still held each other closely, Jason felt his cheeks grow warm as well as Akiko's, "So...are you ok?" she asked.

The street was empty.

Jason's hands where still on her hips, "Yeah...I'm ok." he said. Her arms were still locked around his neck.

"...good." she looked amazing to him.

"Yeah...good." he was the nicest person she's met.

And both their faces where close to each other. Before Jason could do anything , he felt the strange sensation in the back of his head again. The teen looked around for any sign of trouble, but found nothing. He turned back to Aki and saw how close they where.

The two teens felt their heartbeats skyrocket, they abruptly pulled away from each other, "So...thanks..." Jason muttered out while pulling the collar of his jacket up to hide his blush.

"Yeah...anytime." Akiko replied, looking down to the ground and away from Jason.

Jason cleared his throat, "I'm going to...um...go see her...I'll see ya." he said as he began to make his way to the cemetery. He gave her a wave as he walked away, Akiko returning it.

Neither of them noticed the man in the alleyway across the street.

…

Jason had bought a rose for Ava, he held it carefully in both his hands as he walked through the cemetery. The teen passed by loved ones visiting their dearly departed, friends awkwardly talking to tombstones.

The teen walked into the grass off from the stone path towards Ava's tombstone. The teen's heart felt heavy as he approached the stone, "Hey mom..." he said aloud.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around. But..." the silence was killing him, "you know what, no buts...I haven't been around because...I hate that your here because of me." he confessed, his head hanging low.

Jason let out a sigh, "But then you would say that I'm not the one to blame for this. And to stop feeling guilty about this, and to just enjoy life." he said as he sat down on the ground. "But I can't enjoy it if I know that I could have done something to stop this from happening in the first place."

The teen twirled the flower in his hand, looking at the red rose with sad eyes, "I think of you every day...and at first it just made me feel more alone." The first few nights alone he couldn't sleep from all the nightmares. And all the nightmares where of Ava dying.

"But...I wasn't alone for long. I made friends...and one..." his throat felt dry for no reason, "One of them cares for me a bit like you did...but with what I do...well it wouldn't be safe for her." he said, thinking back to all the super villains that he's been facing.

"Being Spider-Man has been a little...hard...but someone needs to do it." Jason stated. "Ever since I started all this, they city has gotten better. Less crime, people are outside more at night, and people are safe." he listed off. "But above all...I found out what I can use my powers for...and now I know what I was made to do."

Jason laid the rose on her tombstone before he sat up, "I love you mom." the teen said.

The sounds of police sirens drew the young hero's attention, Jason turned to the grave, "And for some reason, I think that's a way saying you love me too." he said before heading towards the fence and jumping ontop of it and then towards a secluded area to change into his costume.

…

Akiko walked down the street towards her home at a steady pace. That was...ok I don't know what the hell that was. Akiko thought as she thought back to her and Jason's...exchange earlier. _I'm just overthinking this, I mean Jason's a good friend...and he's a nice guy. But-_

"Akiko." The girl stopped dead in her tracks as her pupils shrunk. "Thank the spirits your alright." The voice said as she turned to the man behind her. The man was taller than her, he had black hair and amber eyes. He wore a dark brown trench coat over a scarlet dress shirt and black dress pants.

Akiko moved one of her hands behind her towards her back pocket, "Hello Rozu." she said coldly, pressing down on the spider tracer.

Her father grabbed her hand and yanked it forward, "What's this?" he questioned while Akiko tried to break his grip on her wrist. She dropped the tracer when his hand began to get warm. Rozu sneered down at his daughter, "Just what the hell is this!" he demanded, tightening his grip on his wrist and increasing the temperature.

"AHHHHH!"

…

Jason threw the thug into the wall before spraying him with webbing. A pawn shop robbery turned out to be good release for the frustrations that Jason had pent up throughout the day, and he was already feeling much better. With the last of the men dealt with, the teen jumped into the air and shot a web to the wall of a building and swung between two buildings and landed on a rooftop a block away from the crime.

"That was strangely liberating...man I hope I'm not getting addicted to punching people or something." Jason rambled, suddenly his gauntlet started beeping. The teen looked down at the device, "Aki."

Jacobean towards the ledge of the rooftop and sprung off the end of it, when he started to fall, he fired a web to the building in his right and swung down the street. _No. No no no no no! I'm not losing her!_ Jason thought as he leapt off his line and bounced off a wall before shooting a web to his left.

He pulled on the webline with both hands, increasing his speed before he leapt into the air above the rooftops. The teen fired webs on either side of him and pulled them behind him, shooting himself over buildings. The teen fell towards a flagpole and grabbed it, swinging on it and keeping his momentum going. He then attached the web to the ledge of a lower bluffing and rocketed down the street.

The vigilante glanced down at his gauntlet before hanging a hard right. The teen looked down on the street for any sign of Aki. Come on give me something! A bag she dropped! Her shoe! Anything that will tell me that she's alive! Jason pleaded in his mind.

His tingle went off again, pointing down.

_Aw what the hell? _Jason thought as he let go of his webline and dropped to the sidewalk. Jason looked all around for something before he heard a crack under his foot. Pulling his shoe away, he saw the remains of the spider tracer. Jason let out a sigh of relief, "She's alive...she's alive...thank the spirits." Jason said, falling to his knees in relief.

The teen stood, "Ok. I need to tell her parents and the police. Which seems like something that Spider-Man shouldn't do." The teen said as he began to make his way towards the police station by web.

_I can't just tell them I saw her being taken, I'll say that she came to me about her problem and that she didn't feel comfortable telling the police after last time. So for once in my life I'm gonna tell the truth...this is gonna be weird._ The teen thought as he shot another web and catapulted himself forward.

…

Kasuni paced her living room apartment with fear, anger, and anxiety. When Jason arrived at the door and asked if Akiko was home yet she thought that she'd be along shortly. It wasn't until the teen began to voice his concerns that her and Huang began to inwardly panic.

The police arrived after a quick phone call and a explanation just making her worry more, "Mis. Rupa," the woman turned to Jason with a calming look on his face and a small smile, "I'm sure that Akiko will be alright." he stated reassuringly in a attempt to bring her mind at ease.

Kasuni took a few deep breaths, calming herself down as well as steadying her frantic heart rate, "Jason." the two turned to see Huang peering in from the dinning room where the police have set up a mini station, the man gestured the teen to come over .

Jason gave a confident smile to Kasuni, she returned it as he entered the dinning room, "What's up?" the teen asked.

Huang glanced back to the policemen that Captain Wei had sent before returning his attention to Jason, "They're saying that they have a APB out on him, he won't be able to leave the city...but that only goes for the docks and trams. They're still trying to lock down all the roads out on the other side of the city. Since you work at the Marvel I was hoping..." he explained.

Jason smiled, "I'll get on it." he said to the man with a nod.

Huang gave the teen a grateful smile, "I can't thank you enough for this Jason." he said, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder.

Jason nodded before taking a look in the living room to Kasuni, "Give to me straight doc. Is Rozu dangerous? Like would he..." he trailed off. _Stop thinking like that! It's not going to happen...not again...I won't let it_. Jason thought to himself.

Huang sighed, "Akiko shouldn't be in any danger as long as she complies with whatever he says. He'll only harm her of she does something he doesn't like or doesn't do what he wants." he explained.

Jason looked relived at that, "Aki's smart enough to know that so she's safe." he said in relief.

Huang didn't look convinced, "Well not exactly." Jason gave him a confused and slightly worried look, "Rozu believes in his mind that Akiko is his. He thinks that since she's his daughter that she is his to control." he explained.

Jason pressed his lips together, "Aki...told me that...he..."

Huang shook his head, "That was him testing his boundaries. I highly doubt that he'll try anything remotely similar to that." he said, canceling Jason's fears.

"I'll head to the Marvel. Call me if...well anything. Please?" Jason asked. Huang nodded before Jason made his way to the front door and closed it behind him.

…

Akiko held onto the railing if the van it traveled over a bump in the road, "Ow! Hey remember I'm back here!" she shouted to her father. She was handcuffed to said railing and it was on her newly burned wrist, and with no seat she was like a rag doll in the back.

"Don't worry Aki. Just a few more hours and you can sit up front with me." Rozu said without turning back to her. He knew that the police wanted to take his daughter away from him, he wouldn't let them. No matter what.

…

Jason sat on one of the tethers of Silk Road Bridge, the bridge was one of the only places that the police weren't screening for Rozu. The costumed teen was hoping that Aki would do something so that he could tell which car she was in.

_Who knows, maybe that tingling in my head will help...wait that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea_. The teen thought. "Maybe it was that Spider Sense that Peter was telling me about?" Jason wondered aloud. He partially wished that Peter had stayed here in his world to help him at times like this.

"It's like puberty all over again. And this time I don't know what the hell to expect this time around...oh god I hope I don't start eating flies in class." Jason said aloud. Last thing he needed was fly breath...or his identity found out but more importantly, fly breath.

…

A black van turned on a street towards Silk Road Bridge. Rozu was the driver, "Can you at least tell me where we're going?" Akiko asked, tugging on the cuff, "Or better yet, tell me where in the world you got these cuffs...on second thought, never mind." she said, realizing the answer may be not what she's expecting.

The girl was terrified out of her mind, that was a given, but small talk with the man may be better than waiting for him to say something that shakes her world. "I can't tell you that sweetie. Not yet anyway." he said as he turned onto the street that lead across the bridge.

…

Spider-Man put his fingers on the side of his head, "Ok Spider Sense...Activate!" he shouted. After a few moments and the only sensation of stupidity falling over him, he decoded not to do that again. "Come on Spider Sense. Start working...please." he pleaded.

He felt something point down near the street.

Spider-Man looked down to the roads below, it was night and the roads where mostly empty. Jason jumped from the tether down towards the street, using his Spider Sense like a compass, he swung towards the locked off end of the city.

His Spider Sense pointed down towards a black van, "There you are you son of a bitch." the masked teen muttered as he dropped into the roof of the van.

"What was that?" Rozu questioned. Akiko looked to the front window where Spider-Man looked through the glass.

"Pull over. Now." the masked teen demanded. The teen's spider sense flared as Rozu drew his fist back and created a fire. The teen retreated to the roof of the van, "A simple 'no' would have been nice!" Jason shouted, climbing onto the side of the car. Rozu yanked the wheel to the right of the road and crashed it into the guard rails, sending sparks behind him.

Spider-Man laid himself flat against the side of the vehicle, avoiding the collision with the metal rails. Rozu pulled away from the side, giving Spider-Man time to crawl to the back of the van. Rozu started to pain of, _They can't take her! They can't take her! THEY CAN'T TAKE HER! _Rozu thought as her upends the car abruptly to the left, sending the car towards the railing protecting the ledge.

"NO!" Spider-Man yelled. The teen sprayed the road with webbing and attached it to the bumper of the car as it went over the edge of the building. Making both occupants inside lurch forward, Akiko's head connected with the railing and slumped.

Jason put his hands on the doors and ripped them off their hinges, "AKI!" Jason exclaimed as he dropped down on the driver's seat, making Rozu's head hit the driving wheel, and put his ear to her chest.

.

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_Thump Thump._

She was unconscious. "Oh thank god..." Spider-Man said, his voice filled with relief. The vigilante grabbed the handcuffs and broke them off her wrist.

"No! Don't take her!" Rozu pleaded.

Jason stomped the car seat, knocking the man'a heat to the dash, "You better pray to the spirits that she's alright you piece of shit." The teen threatened. He had half a mind to snap the webbing and let the man fall into the Yue Bay.

The teen grabbed the man's collar and covered his body in webbing so he couldn't firebend and shot a web up to the bridge and attaching it to the man, "Get this straight, the only reason I'm not dropping you in the water is because today, no one dies." Jason said before letting go of the man and sending him up towards the bridge.

Jason picked the girl up bridal style, "Hang on Aki. Your going to be alright." he said before jumping up out of the van and shooting a web to the bridge and pulling himself up towards the roads. Jason landed on the sidewalk and sprayed webs to him and Aki's hands around his neck so she wouldn't fall off.

The teen jumped into the air and shot a web at one of the tethers and swung towards the locked down part of the city and the nearest Hospital.

…

Jason sat idly in the chair outside Akiko's room. His head in his hands and his foot thumping against the floor rapidly, the last time he was like this he lost someone, and it scared the hell out of him. Huang and Kasuni arrived a few moments ago with Keito and entered the room to see their daughter. Jason told them that Spider-Man called him and told him what happened.

Jason looked over as the door opened abd Kasuni looked over with a relived face and sweet smile, "She's going to be fine. You want to see her?" she asked. Jason nodded and rose from his seat. Jason peered into the room and saw Akiko lying in bed in a hospital gown.

"Come on Jason, I won't bite your head off." she said, a small smile on her face.

The teen was hesitant but walked to the side of her bed with her family members spread out on the other, "So...bad day?" he joked. Akiko slugged his arm, "Well that shows your on the way to recovery." the boy said as he rubbed his shoulder .

Akiko gave him a smile, "I'll be up and back in school by the end of the week." she said positively.

Jason folded his arms, "Just in time to miss exams." he commented, making Akiko break out in a cheeky smile.

"Yeaahhhhhh. Ain't that just a shame?" she asked.

Jason rolled his eyes, "You know that means your going to have to take them right when you get back from break. Right?" he asked.

The three family members laughed as their daughter let out a wine into her pillow.

…

Jason laid in his bed wearing a set of PJ's. It had been a stressful day. And it wasn't even 7:00. Between Akiko's abduction and and his mother's birthday, he was emotionally drained from the day's events as well as physically. "I almost lost her...god I almost lost someone else." Jason muttered.

_Knock, Knock_

Jason slid off his bed and headed for his door, "I didn't forget rent did I?" Jason questioned aloud. Jason had more than once had to pay his landlady on rent day. And contrary to what she warned him about making too much noise, he learned that she must sleep like a rock every night.

Jason opened the door. It was a woman. Just not his landlady.

But he knew the woman as Spider-Man. "Hello...I'm sorry but who are you?" Jason asked. The woman had warm brown eyes. Brown eyes, and wore robes that looked like they belonged to a temple of sorts. They where red and orange.

The woman coughed in her hand, clearing her throat, "Are you Jason O-rou?" she asked. Jason slowly nodded, his Spider Sense wasn't going off so he belived that he had nothing to fear.

The woman smiled kindly, "My name is Pema...and...your my nephew."

**AN: Thank you Atom king for giving me the idea of Air bender relatives. You rock dude:)**

**Also, we all know that Spider-Man's spider sense is mainly used to help identity danger. But after consulting a few resources I found it's a bit more than that. Peter actually has some degree of control over it. **

**For instance he is able to sense what's around him, even when there's no light whatsoever. He was able to navigate through a dark room with tons of furniture and avoid all of it. **

**There's also some things not fully explained about it but I'll use it like everyone knows it works. **

**Rozu's fate will be expanded upon later in the story if anyone was wondering.**

**I'm sorry for the lack of superviallns this time around but a break from them is always nice. **

**Also, who else had a fricking heart attack when they made the LoK announcement?! I swear nickelodeon just enjoy's playing hell with the Avatar fandom.**

**Thank you all for reading the story and I love all the feedback that you all send me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll get right to work on the next one! **


	13. Chapter 13

Eight armed bandit

Jason stood in the doorway to his apartment. Pema was giving him a worried look, he hadn't moved at all in the last five minutes. He didn't even say a grunt or anything at all in the time and it was beginning to worry the woman greatly, "Are...are you ok?" she asked.

Jason seemed to snap out of it, "My...aunt...give me a minute, I'll be right out." he said before closing the door and running to his room to throw on his costume and clothes before returning to the door. "Ok, let's go." he said as he closed the door behind him and led Pema down the hall towards the stairs.

The woman raised a eye, "Where are we going?" she asked.

Jason began to walk down the flight of stairs, "Look lady, if by any chance this is in some way true, I'm going to need at least a few cups of coffee to deal with all this." he said as he rubbed his eyes.

Pema could only comply as the two exited the teen's apartment building. Jason needed a thing of coffee almost daily to compensate for his nights out on the town. Thankfully he found the perfect place between his home and school to stop at in between.

The two sat down in a booth looking out to the streets, Jason ordered the most energetic drink they had while Pema ordered only water, "So...your my aunt..." Jason stated. Pema could only nod, "Alright then, Prove it. What was my mother's middle name?" Jason asked as he sipped ok his coffee.

Ava had a really embarrassing middle name that she never told anyone but family, Jason only knew because she wanted to cheer him up after a depressing day at school. _No way she could possibly guess-_

"Poppy. Her middle name was Poppy." Pema said confidently. Jason nearly choked on his drink, _What! How could she...unless..._

"Oh holy crap it's true." Jason said in realization. His mother never mentioned any other family members. Ever! She talked about her mother and father of course, but Jason always assumed that she was a only child like him. Jason ran a hand over his shell shocked face, "I...how come she never told me?" Jason asked.

Pema looked down at her glass of water, "I left the family to go join the Air Nomads at Air Temple Island. My family was...close knit. When I left, they cut off contact with me." she explained sadly. "Me and my sister used to be so close when we where little. We used to do everything together..." she said said my as she recalled her childhood memories

Thousands of thoughts went through his mind at once, he settled on one, "I don't mean to sound rude at all but...how come it took you so long to find me?" the teen asked. Finding someone in Republic City is pretty hard unless their well known, as Spider-Man he has a easy time finding big triad guys that way and people to bug as a reporter.

Pema took a small drink, "Your mother's birthday was today. I only recently found out that she passed...and when I found the flower on her grave I thought a friend of hers put it there. I asked my husband to check to see if he could find them. And he found you." she explained.

The teen laid his elbows down on the table and put his hands on te back of his head, "God this is...this is just so messed up!" he exclaimed, getting a few patron's attention. Pema had a look of hurt on her face that Jason immediately saw, "No no! I mean...it's just after all this time with just my mom and me...it feels weird meeting another family member is all." he explained.

Pema seemed to brighten up at that, "Well it's not just me..." _Oh crap she had kids with her!_ Jason thought in realization.

"I'm a cousin. Aren't I?" he asked. Making Pema nervously chuckle. Jason on the other hand was fairly excited by the news, "Well don't keep me in suspense! What are they like?" Jason asked, a smile on his face. The teen was a lonely child, he on more than one occasion asked for a little brother to play with but when his mother stated it could be a girl as well he shut up about it. Especially after her sex talk with him.

Pema smiled, "How would you like to meet them? You can come by the Air Temple the day after tomorrow if you can." she suggested. The idea sounded perfect to the teen.

"That'd be great. I can come in about 5:00." he stated. Pema gave the teen a heartwarming smile at the news.

"That would be great! I'll tell the acolytes to let you take the ferry over." she said as she got up. Jason and her exited the small shop, Jason with coffee in hand. The woman turned to the teen with a smile, "Jason...I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me...thank you." she said gratefully.

Jason returned her smile, "Same here."

he said as he watched the woman walk down the street and towards her home.

…

"I mean this is amazing! The fact that I even have family is just...just overwhelming!" Jason said in his Spider-Man costume. After a two hour nap back at his home, the teen was well rested enough to go on a patrol around the city.

But the fact that he was talking to a gargoyle gave the impression he hasn't gotten any sleep.

Jason dangled his legs of the ledge beside the stone figure, "I mean I'm a little...confused why my mom didn't tell me that she wasn't a only child. But then again I never directly asked that." Jason said in realization.

The teen looked at the stone face looking for any sign of agreement, "My god I really going crazy aren't I?" he asked the gargoyle. The silence was interrupted by his gauntlet coming to life, _'Attention, we have reports of a break in at Future Industries. Any units please respond.'_

"Well that's my cue. See ya Bobo." he said to the gargoyle before jumping off the building and falling down towards the streets below. At the last moment, Spider-Man shot a webline at the side of a building and swung down the street.

_Ok so who could be sealing from Future Industries of all places? All that's there is the materials to create products there. So either it's a dumb crook, or someone looking for something specific_. Jason thought as he leapt off his webline.

…

The teen was close to the building. Jason fired another webline whole he held another in his other hand and pulled himself between two close buildings. On the other side was Future Industries. The teen kicked his feet into the air and and let go of the webs he had.

The young hero landed on the sde if the building and crawled along the wall for someway inside. The vigilante found his way in through the roof, with one of the glass windows already broken into, "So much for subtlety." Jason stated before jumping through the hole.

The teen front flipped as he passed through the glass, firing a web between his legs to the ceiling, the masked teen descended through the air towards the ground. _I don't know why, but I just love doing this_.

The teen lowered himself just above the ground, the area looked like a laboratory, it was utterly and completely trashed. Glass all over the floor along with metal instruments and what not.

Jason didn't notice the mechanical arm until his Spider Sense went off.

The teen stopped to the floor and back flipped away from the arm, "Gah! Probe!" Spider-Man fake shirked. The arm was silver and had three pincers on the end of it, "Ok. Not a probe...what the heck is that?" the teen questioned aloud as the device charged at him.

Jason jumped up onto a lab table nearby, the pincer changed it's course and got the teen right in the chest, knocking him off the table and onto the floor. The teen rubbed his chest as he stood, "Look pal, I don't think that little old you is the one who broke in here by yourself." he said, fallowing the 'arm' back down to it's base.

"No. They can't work properly without me."

_They?_ Jason wondered as the arm retreated into the darkness as a man stepped out. He was on the heavy side, but not enough that he couldn't win a fight, he had a dark brown trench coat on, under that was a green and white lab suit with a thing of metal going over his waist. He wore a pair of silver glasses that covered his eyes, he also had brown hair. "Look man if you work here you should get out of here. There's someone...who...damnit it's you isn't it?" he asked.

The man smiled, "It took you long enough to find out. I must say though, I'm surprised to have Spider-Man of all people come here. I expected the police, not The Spider-Man." he explained, walking out of the darkness.

Jason's jaw dropped. The man had tentacles coming out of his back.

There where four tentacles coming from his sides. "What the hell?" Spider-Man asked aloud. He had never seen anything like this before in his entire life, and in the past few months he had seen some pretty strange things. "W-wha-what happened to you?"

The man readjusted his glasses, "Before you ask, no. I'm not a bender. This," he raised the arms, "is the work of pure genius. I found out that brain waves can be transferred into radio waves." he explained .

Jason's eyes widened under his mask, "I know you! Your theory about radio/brain wave transfer, your Otto Octavius!" Jason said in realization. The teen read about his theory for a school project involving new age technology.

Otto smirked, "Your smarter than I first believed you to be Spider-Man. Though my collages always called me Doctor Octopus. I must say I do like it more now." he said, thinking back to the office joke. He didn't like it, but he had grown to the title, especially since the people who called him it don't talk anymore.

Jason went into a fighting stance, "Look Doc, I may like your work but your still trying to rob this place. So I'm going to need to take you in." Jason warned.

Doc Ock laughed at that, "Go on and try." he taunted. The teen jumped towards the man as he raised his metal arms and shot them out towards the masked teen. One of them knocked the teen on the head while another grabbed his leg and slammed him onto the floor.

Ock walked forward as his two lower arms grabbed two tables on either side of him, the tentacles rose the desks above his head and slammed them down towards Spider-Man.

The vigilante rolled out of the way as the wood splintered on impact of the ground. Spider-Man pushed himself off the ground with his hands towards Doc Ock, only to be swiped aside by one of the metal arms and sent him into the wall.

The teen pulled himself out of the indent out of the wall with a groan of pain, "Is that all? I expected more from Spider-Man of all people." he said mockingly, clicking his arm's pincers as he walked over on two of the arms.

Spider-Man rolled his shoulder blade, "No wonder your so chubby! You just walk around on automatic stilts!" he said mockingly. The comment angered the former scientist and sent his two arms down to the costumed hero.

Spider-Man jumped as the metal embedded into the concrete, he shot a web to the man's torso and pulled the man towards him and threw his fist out to the man's chin, sending him back into a table full of glass beakers and test tubes, "What was that about -" Jason didn't see the tentacles from the ground grab his legs, "Gah!" he exclaimed as the other tentacles latched onto the teen's wrists.

Otto stood from the wreckage smiling, "I was saying that I expected more from you." he said as he pulled the costumed teen towards him. "I must say. I do like the suit, almost makes me wish I experimented with spiders." he said, looking over the suit.

"Just don't picture me naked dude. That's just creepy." Spider-Man stated, trying to wiggle free of Doc Ock's grasp, _If I can angle my wrist just right, I could get out of this_. Jasom thought, glancing up to his web shooter.

"The only thing that's going to be bare is your face." he said, reaching for the teen's mask.

He grabbed the fabric and yanked. It didn't move at all, "Stick 'em powers!" Spider-Man yelled, startling the man long enough to shoot his webbing into the man's glasses. Doc Ock dropped the teen while he tried to get the webbing off his glasses.

The masked teen uppercutted the man, sending him into the air, he then shot webbing to man's chest and then threw him across the room and towards the wall. Doc Ock's arms latched to the wall, "Hey! Wall crawling is my thing! Get down from there!" Jason shouted as the webbing was ripped off the man's glasses.

The tentacles dug into the wall and pulled out a large piece of it, "Oh come on..." Jason muttered as the rock was sent towards him. Jason shot two webs on either side of him and pulled them together. He let go, sending the webbing around the rock and stopping it from hitting him.

He shot to webs to the cradle he made and pulled back and let go, sending the rock towards the man. The man's arms pushed him off the wall and used his tentacles to climb to the window on the roof and climbing out the broken window.

The teen attached webs to either side of the window and pulled back on the weblines, shooting himself out the window. The teen landed on the rooftop, his spider sense went off on his right, Jason flipped back as a arm aimed for his head missed him. He landed on his hands and pushed himself away into the air, dogging a swipe from another attack.

Jason attached a webline to one of the four towers around the factory and swung around it to avoid Ock's attack. The teen rested on the side facing away from the building to catch his breath. When he peered out on the side, a chunk of roof was thrown at him. "You really think that your a hero!? " Otto yelled. "Your the reason for everything that's happened lately!" he pointed out.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Spider-Man asked as he reloaded his web shooters. If I keep him distracted I can get him when he least expects it.

The man rolled his eyes, "Since you showed up. The city has been flooded with more crime just to stop you. You are the reason for all the villains that have come here." he stated, making Jason stop what he was doing.

_Is...is that true?_ Jason wondered. "That's-" he shouted as he looked onto the roof only to find Doc Ock gone, " -just my goddamn luck. Crap." Jason muttered as he jumped down to the rooftop. "I hate it when that happens!"

…

Jason sat at his desk in school while he finished writing up his exam. The teen was thinking back to what Otto said the day before, how it's his fault for all the super villains that have been coming to the city of late.

_The Enforcers, Electro, Kraven, Sandman. They all came to try and kill me. And they did whatever they thought was needed to draw me outgo try and kill me. Including threatening people._ Jason thought.

The teen sighed as he turned the page in his booklet, _Maybe Spider-Man isn't the answer like I thought...maybe it's time for a little vacation._ The teen thought as he wrote down his answer for the next question.

Jason was going to visit Akiko in the hospital after school. Since she was still out of commission after her entire ordeal, Jason wanted to make sure that she would be ready for testing when she went back to school

…

_Knock Knock_

"Come in." Akiko said, not looking up from her school book. The door opened to show Jason with a smile on his face.

"Holy crap it's the end of days." Jason said as Akiko sent him a small glare. "I'm just saying, it's nice to see you taking your schoolwork seriously is all." he chided as he sat down in the chair beside her bed. "And just for that, you deserve a reward." he said as he dug into his schoolbag.

Akiko's eyes widened when he pulled out a box of chocolate, "Have I told you that your amazing? Because you are amazing." she said as the teen handed him the teen handed her the chocolate.

As the girl munched on her treat, Jason looked over to the girl with a smile, "So how you holding up? Obviously there's no brain damage but I can't imagine you not having any headaches." he stated.

Akiko looked down at her bed sheets, "I'm fine...have you heard anything about Rozu?" she asked. "My mom and dad think that the less talked about it the better. But I at least want to know what happened to him." she explained as she took a bout of chocolate.

Jason nodded, "I get that...they said that he's being tried for kidnapping and the endangerment if a child."

"I'm not a child!"

"Well I gotta say I can't really say I don't agree." Jason joked, making Akiko lightly punch his arm.

She shrugged, "I'm just happy he's not in any position to hurt me again...could have been worse of Spider-Man didn't show up." she said. Jason had a small smile at that "When you see him, say thanks for me?" she asked.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Well people keep saying that he's gonna quit." he sated, making Akiko stop eating her chocolate in mid bite.

She looked at him in complete shock, "He can't...Jason you gotta find him and tell him not to!" she said, grabbing the teen's shoulder and looking him seriously in the eye.

Jason looked at her calmly, "Aki...look, ever since he showed up, guys like Rhino and Electro have cons here trying to off the guy. He says that if he keeps this up, then people are going to get hurt." he explained to the girl.

She crossed her arms, thinking over what Jason had said. It was true that none of the freak shows showed up until after Spider-Man showed up, but that didn't make it his fault that they came to the city.

"Ok. Tell him this. Even if he wasn't around, those men would still be out in the world doing something wrong." she said. Jason took a moment to let that sink in, "And he didn't give them powers, or tell them what to do with them." she added. "So when you see that dork next time, tell him that. Would you?" she asked, flashing the boy a smile.

Jason smiled before nodding, "Sure...by the way. You won't believe what happened to me last night." Jason said, getting comfortable in the chair.

"Oh yeah? What happened?" she asked, popping a chocolate into her mouth.

"I met my long lost Aunt." he stated , making Akiko's eyes widen and mouth hang open.

"You have a aunt! And you just found out that you actually have a aunt!? How...I don't..." she blundered. The news was shocking to her maybe even more than Jason, "How is that possible!" she asked.

Well when a man and a woman are in love, or have a certain arrangement set up with each other-" Jason started. The boy was shut up when Aki smacked his ribs, "Well you wanted to know!" he said, trying to stop his laughing.

"I swear your spending too much time with Whitney. So who's this mystery aunt?" she asked.

Jason put a elbow on the bed, "Pema. She lives on Air Temple Island. In fact I'm heading there tomorrow to meet my apparent cousins." he explained as Akiko turned to face him.

"Oh good god your multiplying. How many?" she asked with a smile.

"Three I think...you know I always wanted little siblings." he said as he thought back to his childhood. "It's lonely growing up as a single kid." he explained. "I always thought that a little brother would be fun." he stated, making Akiko laugh, "What?" he questioned.

She smirked, "Brothers are assholes. Keito used to mix all my paints together to make mud colored paint for me to use." she explained, making the teen crack a smile.

"Do I even want to know what you did in retaliation?" he asked, partially a little scared to hear.

Akiko gestured him close, she leaned over to his ear, "I threw every white piece of cloth he owned and threw a red shirt of mine in the washing machine." she said, holding back a fit of giggles.

Jason chuckled at the image in his head, "Remind me to never, ever, mess with your paints." he commented, pulling his head away.

Akiko smirked, folding her arms over her hospital gown, "Don't worry. I've matured since then." she said confidently.

"Again. Little to no proof of that." Jason said, earning a chocolate to his forehead.

"You know, we've talked a lot about my childhood, but I don't remember hearing anything about yours." Akiko said accusingly.

The teen shrugged, "Honestly it wasn't extraordinary at all. It was just me and my mom. Dad walked out when I entered the picture." he explained when he saw Akiko's confused face.

"Oh...sorry I didn't-" she started.

Jason shrugged again, "It's no big deal. In fact, I think I'm better because he wasn't around. Makes it so I'm not like that." Jason explained.

Akiko smiled before she patted his shoulder, "You'd never be like that Jason. Even if he was around." she said, making the teen's face blush.

…

Jason stayed a while longer before he bid the girl fair well and exited the hospital. As the teen walked down the street he thought back to Akiko's words of encouragement. _Otto was trying to just throw me off my game. It worked. But now, I'm gonna find him and show him back in the game. _Jason thought as he turned into a deserted alleyway.

Jason changed I to his Spider-Man costume before he climbed the side of the building. "Ok what was he looking for? I know he used to work at Future Industries...maybe he's getting what's his." Jason guessed aloud.

Jason remembered reading about Otto being fired after some sort of mental breakdown. His mother passed away after he called off a engagement with a woman that Otto had preposed to a woman that he loved.

Jason almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.

Spider-Man fired a web to the side of a building, angling his swing arc so that he he flew over the rooftops of the buildings. The masked teen landed on a chimney, _'Attention all units, we have reports of a break in at Cabbage Corp. any unit please identify.' _

"And there's the special someone I'm looking for...ok that sounded more menacing in my head." Jason said as he leapt off the brick chimney and out to the streets.

…

Spider-Man shot two webs on either side of him, just missing a car as he swung above the streets of Republic City. The vigilante pulled the webs begins him, increasing his altitude. He shot a web to a flagpole and swung down the street and quickly rounded a building and attached another web to a building, Cabbage Corp.

The young hero swung around the building, looking for a way inside that Ock managed to get into. The broken window in the front of the building was the most obvious place to start. The teen attached a webline right above the hole and swung inside the building.

Instead of lab tables there where cubicles this time, "Help! Please for Spirits sake!" A man yelled who was pinned under a large cabinet case, the teen ran over and lifted the metal up so he could slip out. "Oh thank you!" the man said gratefully as he crawled out of the space.

"I don't suppose a guy with for metal arms came through here by any chance?" Spider-Man asked as he helped the man up from the floor.

The man pointed to the path of destruction, "Crazy SOB when that way. Yelling about his work being stolen." he said.

Jason's eyes widened, "Thanks pal, now get yourself somewhere safe." he said as he ran towards the path that Doc went. _So that's what he was after! The company gets the patent for the invention, Otto believes it's his and decides to trash the place so they can't make it. _Jason thought as he jumped down into the lobby where Doc Ock had a man by his collar.

"Where is it! I want to hear you say it thief!" he yelled to the man. He was the owner of Cabbage Corp, as told by his incredibly frivolous clothing. He was also scared beyond belief.

The man sweated bullets, "I-I-I-I-I didn't know we even made it! I promise!" he shouted. Ock didn't like that answer, he raised his tentacle and drew it back as he was about to strike. Spider-Man shot a web to the man's chest and pulled him out of Ock's grasp.

"Now now Doc, I told you those toys where dangerous." The masked teen said mockingly as he caught the man and set him on the floor. "Now I'm afraid I'll gave to take your toys away."

Otto sneered at the costumed teen, "Stay out of my way! This has nothing to do with you! They set me up!" he said, pointing to the cowering CEO who was running towards the nearest exit.

Spider-Man tilted his head curiously, "How so?" he asked.

"They framed me! They set me up so it looked like I was the one spying on Future Industries! He can't hide it anymore! I'm going to-" he started before Spider-Man sprayed webs at his eyes but was blocked by the tentacles, "Nice try but I learn-" he said as he pulled the arms away, only to see a fist heading for his face.

Otto was sent to the floor, Spider-Man landed on his feet and sprung into the air and shot two webs on either side of Ock and pulled himself down towards the man with his outstretched feet.

Otto was quick and used his metal arms to grab the feet and toss him away. Jason shot a web to the ceiling and used the momentum to do a 360 turn on the web and land on the floor in front of Doc Ock. The scientist sent all four arms to the teen like before.

Spider-Man tried a different approach this time, he jumped forward snd grasped the upper tentacle and sung on it towards Ock. He knocked two others away with his feet, the fourth one headed for the costumed hero's chest, but he fried a web at the arm and pulled himself under it and slid across the floor.

Jason delivered a double kick to Doc's gut and sent him into the air. Like before, Jason attached two weblines to his chest, this time he took a page from Otto's book and slammed him into the floor and then into the wall. "I learn from my mistakes Doc. This time, your not getting away." Jason said as he ran towards the man.

Doc Ock tore out a slab of rock and tossed it at the teenager, Jason jumped in the air sideways and stuck a web to the rock as he spun in the air, wrapping the web around his arm. He landed on the ground and stuck to the ground firmly, he felt the webbing stretch out and he grabbed the line with both hands before pulling his hands down to the floor and launched it back at Doc.

The scientist blocked the rock with his arms, sending him crashing back into the wall. Spider-Man pressed down on his web shooters and stuck the man's metal tentacles to the wall.

Otto struggled to remove the webbing but wasn't fast enough to get them out in time before Spider-Man delivered a right hook to the face, dazing him while he webbed the rest of his body to the wall, along with sticking his mouth shut, "Next time you lose something Otto. Try the legal system . Something tells me your going to get real friendly with it pretty soon." Jason said as he walked away from the man.

Spider-Man pushed open the front doors and jumped into the air and shot a web to the building next to Cabbage Corp and swung away. _Otto may have said I'm the reason for all the super villains, but I'm not the reason he turned rotten. That was all him._

…

"How...the...hell...are you related to Airbenders?" Xang asked. He and Jason stood at the ferry to Air Temple Island.

"It's complicated. You know for someone whose supposed to be morally supportive your kinda making me feel attacked here." Jason said, looking out to the island in the bay. Otto was taken in yesterday when the police found him in Cabbage Corp. and after a quick swing around the city, Jason was ready to meet his family.

Or he thought so at least, "Why did you bring me here of all people?" Xang asked.

"Aki's still in the hospital. And your my best friend besides her." Jason explained with a smile.

Xang put a arm around the smaller teen's shoulder, dispute Jason's super powers, he was still the same night and body build as when he didn't have his powers, "Thanks. By the way, what hospital is she staying at? I want to send her some flowers or something." he said.

"Central Receiving near Silk Road Bridge. And she likes chocolates as well...I learned that the hard way." Jason said, making the jock laugh.

The two stood in silence as the ferry came into sight, "Nervous?" Xang asked, giving the teen a sympathetic look.

Jason gave a small smile, "You have absolutely no idea. It's like...actually there is no way to tell you what this feels like." he stated.

Xang shrugged, "Look. They're family. One thing my parents taught me; family is forever. Don't sweat it man, I mean how bag could a bunch of monks be?" he asked, putting the teen at ease. The ferry docked at the harbor with a single Air Acolyte on with a welcoming look. "See ya man." Xang said, holding out a fist bump.

Jason smiled and lightly hit it before boarding the craft to the island. Xang waved to his friend until he was out if sight, "Goddamn since when can the pipsqueak hit hard?" he asked, running his stinging hand.

Jason was smirking at his little payback as he rode the ferry.

It was a fairly short ride on the ferry, Jadon didn't talk to the Air Acolyte mainly because he didn't exactly know what to say. Contrary to what their name says, Air Nomads just stay on the island nowadays.

The small ship docked at the base of the island, Jason gave the ferryman his thanks as he started on his way up the large flight of stairs towards the main complex. The stairs climbed the face of the Cliffside of the island, "Talk about the journey of a thousand steps." Jason muttered as he continued the climb the stairs towards the top.

After climbing one last flight of them, he came to a flat area with a fork in the road, and Pema standing at one of them with a welcoming smile, "I'm so glad you made it." the woman said as the teen approached her.

Jason smiled, "Of course...and can I jut say that stairs suck." he said as he raised and lowered his feet to get feeling back into them. _Guess web swinging makes my feet kinda lazy_.

Pema laughed, "Tell me about it. Try being pregnant and walking up and down them." she said, making the teen wince.

"You poor, poor, woman. So which way?" he asked, looking at both roads.

Pema pointed behind her, "This way, the other walkway leads to the training grounds." she said as the two began walking on the left walkway.

"Training? I thought that Air Acolytes where about peace and love." Jason said as the two walked side by side.

"Well most airbending forms can be mastered by almost anyone. They just can't airbend themselves." she explained as the blue temple rooftops came into view.

The temple was beautifully furnished, looking like it was just put up yesterday but had been standing for years, "Whoa...it's...it's amazing." Jason muttered as they walked by the wooden building.

Pema smiled at her nephew's fascination with her home, "Avatar Aang wanted to make this temple like his home from over a hundred years ago. To help preserve the old ways." she explained to Jason.

The two family members approached the main living quarters of the Airbending family, Jason slowed his pace as they approached the door. Pema took notice of this right away, "What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

The teen shook his head, "Just...nervous is all." he said. _I'll fight a giant Rhino, take a ride a few miles into the sky, jump off of skyscrapers, and risk death on a daily basis, but I'm scared of my own flesh and blood? That is sad._ Jason thought to himself.

Pema walked over to the teen and put her hands on his shoulders, "It's okay Jason. They're your family, just like I am. And besides, they've been dying to meet you." she said with a sweet smile as she led the teen to the paper door.

Pema grabbed the handle and looked at Jason. He took a deep breath and nodded.

Pema opened the door.

The interior of the building was richly decorated with colors of orange, yellow, red, and blue. The living room area consisted of four pillars soy rounding a low table, a set of couches on each side, as well as two chairs on the other sides.

Behind one of the couches was a man with formal Airbender robes, a pointed beard, and a shaved head with a light blue arrow tattoo that went over the head from his neck. Jason felt himself shrink in the man's presence dispute his welcoming look, "Jason, this is my husband, Tenzin." she said, pulling the teen towards her husband.

The man smiled at the nervous teenager, "It's nice to meet you Jason, welcome to my home." He said, bowing to the teen.

Jason returned the gesture by bowing himself, "It-it's a honor sir." Jason stuttered out.

Tenzin shook his head at the teen, "No formalities, your family Jason. Call me Tenzin." he said, giving the teen a smile.

Jason nodded with a small smirk, "Sure thing Tenzin."

The monk turned behind him, "Come on out, meet your cousin." he said. Two young girls in Airbender uniforms stepped out from behind those father , one with a single bun in her brown hair, and the other with two buns in her black hair. "This is Jinora and Ikki, my daughters." he said , introducing the young girls.

Jason timidly raised a hand, "Hi." he said.

Ikki rushed over to his feet faster than Jasom could register, "How old are you? What's your name? Why haven't I met you before? Where do you live? Do live on the island? Do you live in the city? Huh? Huh? HUH?" she bombarded, as she jumped up high enough to look him in the eye.

Pema gave her daughter a look, "Ikki, remember what we said?" she asked while Jason tried to remember what the first question was.

Ikki sighed, "Don't ask more than three questions at once." she said in a bored tone.

Jason smiled at the little girl, "My name is Jason O-rou. I'm 16 years old. I don't live on the island, I live in Dragon Flats Borough. And I haven't met you before because I haven't been to the island." he listed off.

Ikki grinned, "Yep! Thank you!" she said, hugging the teen's leg. Jason patted her head while Jinora stepped forward.

"My name is Jinora. It's really nice to meet you Jason." she said with a smile as she clasped her hands together and bowed.

Jason returned the gesture, "You as well Jinora. So...any questions?" he asked the room in entirety.

The family sat down on the couch while Jasin took the chair, "So Jason, you live alone?" Tenzin questioned, he knew that some of the city's youth is homeless but Jason didn't look the sort at all.

"Yeah, I got a job at the Daily Marvel to help pay the bills." he explained.

Jinora's eyes widened at that, "What do you write about?" she questioned, her curiosity peaking.

Jason smiled, "I write all the weird things, but mostly about Spider-Man." he said, making the parents children's eyes widen with surprise .

"Have you met him!" The girls asked at the same time.

Jason nodded, "Yeah, he's saved my but a few times too. I had to do this article on a gallery a few weeks back. Sandman showed up and Spidey saved me and my friend." he explained, making the children awe at their cousin.

Pema and Tenzin gave the teen a worried look, "Do you always have such...exciting articles?" Pema asked.

Jason scratched the back of his neck, "Not usually. I do get some pretty strange stuff to look at though." he said truthfully. Mostly he goes looking for trouble as Spider-Man, he uses the paper as a way to find leads. "But it's more of a a after school job if anything." he added.

Jinora's eyes seemed to sparkle, "School! Like collage?" she asked. Pema and Tenzin smiled at their daughter's fascination with her cousin. She had a sheltered lifestyle that prevented her from experiencing anything off the island.

Ten and Pema shared a look, "Girls we're going to get your brother. Cab you keep our guest entertained?" she asked, the two nodded and scooted over to the end with their cousin in the chair.

Jason answered the run of the mill questions, what's school like, what he wants to be when he grows up, but one question stood out, "Do you have a girlfriend?" Jinora asked with a playful smile.

Jason's mind flashed to Akiko and blushed red, "No, haven't had one yet."

"But you like someone!" Ikki said , pointing to the boy's blushing face and laughing. "What's her name?" she asked, leaning over the arm into the boy's face.

Jason tried to cover the blush, "It's nothing. She's just a friend."

"A girlfriend!" Jinora joined in.

Jason felt like dying right now. "She is just a friend." he said adamantly. Tenzin and Pema walked into the room and heard the girls talking.

"Leave the poor boy alone girls. Jason, come meet Meelo." she said, holding the baby in her hands, Jason stood from his seat and looked at the small baby.

"He's adorable." Jason said as he prided the boy's hand. The small hand clasped around the teen's finger, giving it a tight squeeze, "Healthy too." he said, taking note of the boy's strength.

Pema smiled, "Would you like to hold him?" she asked, holding the small boy out to the teenager. Jason was hesitant at first but he held his arms in a cradle, Pema smiled and gently put the boy in his arms.

Jason looked down at the small boy with a smile, "Hey there little guy." he said, gently swinging the baby in his arms. Tenzin put a hand on his wife's shoulder and smiled at the scene. "Heh...I always wanted a little brother." he said, looking down at the boy.

Ikki looked at him curiously, "Why don't you ask your mommy to get another brother from the Lemur King?" she questioned. Jason froze, he felt as all sting from the mommy comment but was more curious about the whole Lemur King business.

Pema winced at the mention of Ava, "Ummm, Jinora, Ikki, would go put Meelo in his crib?" she asked. The two girls nodded as Jason he handed the small child to his sisters, they hurried down to his room, leaving the teen and adults alone.

Pema turned to the teen, "Jason I'm so sorry about that." she apologized. "It's just...I don't know how to tell them that..." she shook her head.

Tenzin sighed, "When they find out that Ava passed...we don't know how they'll react...we don't even know how she passed." he said sadly. He loved his brother and inter dearly, but the idea of a slightly bigger family made him happy. But go lose a sister...he couldn't imagine the pain that Pema gone through.

Jason looked surprised, "I thought they told you guys." he said. The police keep all sorts of records on criminal related deaths, then again files do get misplaced, when Jason wants to do research on a criminal at the Marvel, the filing room is one of the messiest places ever.

"Do...you know how..." Pema tailed off, Tenzin eased her down onto the sofa, Jason sat across from her with a sympathetic look on his face.

The teen put his hands together, "A triad member wanted fake his death so he could take over the gang. The guy was my neighbor, so he set his apartment on fire...I got home early. When I saw it. I ran in to go help her. We made it to the hospital but..." he let out a sigh while Pema wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"It's my fault..." Jason muttered making Pena and Tenzin widen.

"Jason how on earth could it be your fault?" Pema asked unbelievingly.

"I saw one of my neighbor's friends take in a can of gasoline. I could have stopped him if I did...something..." _Like use my powers to ram the guy into a wall_. The teen thought.

Tenzin shook his head, "Jason that doesn't make it your fault. Those men who started the fire are responsible for her passing. Not you." he said softly to the troubled teen.

Jason ran a hand over his face, "That's what I keep hearing. It doesn't make me feel any better." he stated as he sat back in his couch.

Pema leaned over the table and took his hands, "Jason, you aren't to blame. You can't keep telling yourself that you are. It's not healthy." she said, making Jason hold back a laugh, _You got no idea._

"Mom we got Meelo in bed!" Ikki said as she road a ball of air into the room, starling Jason.

"Holy crap..." Jason muttered. _And I thought I had good balance._

…

"Thank you...for letting me meet them." Jason said to the woman. The two family members stood at the dock, the ferry getting ready to depart.

Pema smiled at the teen and hugged him, "No problem at all Jason. Your family. Your always welcome here." she said as Jason returned the embrace.

"Thank you Aunt Pema...I'll see you around." he said as he boarded the ferry. The woman waved fair well as the ferry pushed off and returned to the city.

Jason felt...at peace.

…

Zhu Li handed the report to her boss, "Here's the data from the Otto Octavius battle sir." she said as Verrick opened the file and read it over.

"Strength. Speed. Reflexes. And it's all natural, no special equipment. He's a regular super soldier." the man said as he looked at the photos that where collected. All of them showed Spider-Man in mid fight against Otto, "Guess planting that evidence to frame Otto was a good bet in the long one. Even if it didn't get rid of my competition. How is R&D going about replicating the abilities?" he asked.

Zhu Li looked down at her notes, turning a page over, "They say that the most effective means would be through chemical means. A injection wraps, but they still need to produce and test it for side effects." she explained.

Verrick thought for a moment, "Put a quarter of our resources on Project Spider. I want a prototype by the end of the summer." he said decisively.

**AN: Otto isn't such a bad guy. After reading what he went through, I see him as a kid that got picked on a lot as a boy. In a way, he's like Peter.**

**Also what's up with the whole 'Pema has a dark past ' thing? She's a nice lady! Though I must say some of the suggestions I got from her backstory where pretty creative, Kudos people. kudos.**

**And yes, the gargoyle thing was from the 90's cartoon. I personally loved the Spectacular cartoon better though. **

**Anyway, thank you all for reading, I really appreciate all of you who read and enjoy my story, and I especially like it when you all leave reviews.**

**Again thank you all for reading and I'll get the next chapter up soon as I can. **


	14. Chapter 14

Equalists

In the weeks fallowing the Doctor Octopus incidents, Republic City seemed to slow down on the crime. Though not by much. The triads where still in power much to the public's distain but recently Jason has been putting some extra heat on them.

Speaking of heat, Jason was freezing cold as he and Akiko walked out of school, "I think my fingers are going to fall off." Jason stated. He was wearing a grey pullover and green cargo pants to help protect against the cold November weather but his hands where bare.

Akiko wore a black turtleneck under a red hoodie with black trim and fingerless gloves. She also have Jason a smirk, "Too bad your not a firebender." she said, rubbing her hands together. "It's times like this I consider saying to hell with it and breaking my no Firebending rule."

Jason stuck his hands in his pockets, not doing much for protection though, "You don't have any grounds to complain! Firebenders have a naturally higher body temperature than normal people. So don't come complaining about the cold." he accused.

Jason found out that his hands and feet seem to be extra sensitive for some reason. His guess was because those are the only real parts of his body that he uses his sticky powers. Though he guessed in theory that he could use any part of his body in that same way.

The two crossed the sidewalk while the wind blew through the streets, in about two weeks there was a predicted snowfall. Not that anyone welcomed that particular idea in the slightest, "God don't you start with that. I've been getting that crap for the past few days." Akiko said as she blew into her cupped hands.

Jason raised a eye, "What do you mean? Is it those guys who 'asked' you to leave the school a while back?" he asked, "Or their violent friends?" he questioned.

Akiko nodded, "The polite ones. Though they brought their violent friends for backup this time around." she explained as she folded her arms over her chest, "This time though, they where asking me to leave the school. Again." she explained.

Jason gave her a nervous look, _If Akiko's getting threats than someone needs to intervene. And that may mean I need to slip in the costume later today._ Jason thought, "When was this?" he questioned.

Akiko raised a eye, "Do I even want to know what your thinking?" she asked. She knew that Jason was protective of her and she actually found it flattering a tad. But Jason seemed more like a thinker than a fighter so she didn't say when someone bugged her like the people who've been hassling her.

"Probably not." Jason replied cheekily, "Want to talk about it over a cup of coco?" he asked making Akiko stop dead in her tracks. Jason found out that chocolate is Aki's vice, and he couldn't help but exploit it when he could. And he also enjoyed that look in her eye that she got when she heard mention of the sweet. "I know a coffee shop near my ho-hey!" he yelled as Akiko grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him towards his home.

"Chocolate first. Questions later." she stated as Jason's heels dragged across the sidewalk with Akiko leading him. _Damn...I think I may have underestimated how strong Aki is_. Jason thought as they made their way to the coffee shop.

…

Akiko happily sipped on her cup of hot chocolate with both hands holding the warm container. Jason couldn't stop the chuckle that came our when he saw the chocolate mustache she had when she set the cup down, "Shut up." she said, whipping the substance off her skin.

"So now that you have your fuel will you tell me when you got threatened again?" he asked.

Akiko moved the cup around the table in a circle, "It was just yesterday. They where spewing some crap that how benders have 'biological superiority' and that it should be stopped." she said. A chill going down both their spines at the words. "It just sounds creepy."

"It sounds like goddamn genocide." Jason said in a snarl, catching Akiko off guard. Jason is usually quiet on subjects like this but when it begins to involve his friends he puts his cards on the table. _But would I be doing this if I just read it in the paper?_ Jason wondered.

"Whoa there, where's this take action Jason coming from?" she asked half jokingly.

Jason shrugged, "Look all I'm saying that it's just a matter of time before things get violent. Look at the battle of Yu Dao. They got angry and then nearly ignite a new war." he said, thinking back to his history class. "Except this time it'll be benders vs non-benders. And that's something nobody's gonna like."

Akiko nodded in agreement, "It's so stupid. I mean look at us. We get along great and I'm the only one who's...special." she said as she looked down into her empty cup. _Heh, if anyone would be labeled that it should be me_. Jason thought.

Jason reached over and put his hand over hers, "Look...if it helps...I used to be nervous around benders." he said. Akiko's eyes widen, Jason is the absolute last person she thought would think that.

"Used to?" she asked, hoping that he still didn't have that mindset.

"Well you gotta understand that I was bullied by Xang, a bender. My neighbor at my old apartment was a bender. Mostly I had bad experiences and that contributes to it...but your the reason I don't think like that anymore...your my best friend Aki. I couldn't care if you firebent around me all the time. I wouldn't be scared of you." he said honestly.

Akiko felt heat rise to her cheeks and her heart rate quicken. "Jason...that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard..." she said, her chest feeling light.

Jason felt his cheeks turn red at that, "Thanks...seriously though, if they keep bugging you and it gets violent, stay home. Of better yet, use this." he said as he dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a Spider Tracer. The teen slid it under her hand on the table, making sure no one saw.

Akiko cautiously looked around, "Where'd you get this?" she asked in a excited whisper.

"That's my Spider Tracer. Spidy gave it to me in case I ever got in trouble." he lied. He actually had like three of them in his wallet, Jason made a amazing discovery that he can actually us his Spider Sense to help find them. He tested it by putting it on a streetcar and finding it at the station without his gauntlet. Unfortunately his Spider Sense can only be used at short range.

Akiko's eyes widened, "No Jason if you need this-" she started but Jason shook his head.

"Look I can't let you go in good conscious with these guys hassling you Aki." he said, trying to get his point across. Akiko still didn't look convinced, the teen sighed, "Ok we both know I'm not letting you leave without it. So just take it." he said firmly.

Akiko sighed and put the device in her coat pocket, "There. Happy?" she asked.

The teen nonchalantly shrugged, "Meh. To a degree."

Akiko lightly kicked his shin under the table and ordered another thing of hot chocolate to drink. Jason got another coffee for the long day ahead of him. The two friends sat in silence as they both downed their drinks, enjoying their time with one another.

…

Spider-Man zoomed between cars as he swung down the street. He pulled up on the webbing and swung his leg forward, giving him more altitude before jumping off the webline. The teen was responding a jumper situation at the edge of Dragon Flats, he had handled a few cases such as this before. It didn't usually worry him as bad since he has a good chance of saving the person whose in harms way.

Jason stuck a web to his right and stayed on until he was at a angle to shoot himself into the air. The teen summersaulted in the air as he passed the rooftops, he then fired a web to the side of the buliding and ran alongside it for a few meters before jumping off and landing on a rooftop opposite of the jumper building.

A large crowd had gathered in the streets below, taking up the entire sidewalk and part of the road. _It bugs me that so many people just stop what their doing and watch this. It's just frickin morbid._ Jason thought as he jumped over to the building that was getting all the attention.

The teen crawled along the side of the building he began to make out the figure that was on the edge of the tiled rooftop. What shocked the teen was the fact that it was 12 year old boy. _A kid?! I can't screw this up. I can't let him go!_ Jason thought frantically.

The boy was dressed in faded clothes, he had scraggly hair, tan skin, and bunch of cuts and bruises on his face. He had fresh tears in his eyes and was looking over the ledge with fear. "I-it's for the best..."

"Hi there." The boy jumped slightly at the voice. He turned to see a man in a red and black suit with black lenses on the mask that covered his face. He was crouched on the ledge of the building and was waving to the small boy.

"Y-Y-Your Spider-Man!" he exclaimed. He didn't expect anyone to come up here, much less a superhero. The boy was still close to the edge of the of the building , Jason couldn't shoot a web at him without risk of knocking him over from the impact.

"Yep. So what's your name? You know mine ready I figure I may as well learn yours." he said, trying to ease the tension.

The boy looked down towards the street, "Does it really matter?" he asked sadly.

"Of course it does." The teen said.

The boy sighed, "It's Kato." he stated. "Not that it'll matter much longer." he said saidly, making the teen's heart drop.

"Can I ask why you think this is the answer?" Jason asked, sitting on the ledge and looking a at the boy.

The boy let out a sigh, "See all this?" he asked, gesturing to his cuts and bruises on his face, "I've been getting these from people in my neighborhood...telling me to get lost. That I'm bending scum." he explained.

Jason's face turned hard, _When I find these guys I'm going to beat the shit out of them._ The teen thought decisively, "Let me guess. They don't like benders of any kind?" he asked. The boy nodded, "Look Kato. Believe it or not, I was picked on too." he said, making the boy's eyes widen.

"Bull! Your Spider-Man! Nobody messes with you." he stayed, thinking the man was lying to him.

"Except for men in giant suits of armor, metal arms, guys who can fly...you get where I'm going with this?" he asked. The boy nodded, "I mean before I was able to stick to walls. I was, and kinda am, a social outcast. I got bullied, picked on, dirty looked, you name it." he said.

Kato sat down on the ledge beside Spider-Man, "If it still goes on, then why do still hide your face? If they knew who you where then you wouldn't be messed with anymore." he asked.

Spider-Man shook his head, "If I do that then my family will be in danger...and it's not about who messes with me. I could care less about that, but I know that I'm better than the people who like seeing a suffer because I don't do the same to others." he said wisely.

Kato took this in for a moment, "But that doesn't stop them." he said sadly.

Jason looked down to the streets below, "No. But what does stop them is when you ask someone to help you stop it. Your a young man Kato. You should be enjoying yourself, not being a punching bag...tell you what. I'll make you a deal, you tell me where these guys hang out, and I'll make sure that they stop hassling you."

Kato's eyes widened at that, "Yes! Thank you." he said gratefully. He was finally going to be rid of his tormentors.

"Ok. But in return. I want you to tell your parents and the police about what's been happening. That way they can be arrested and be put away for what they've done." Spider-Man said, "Deal?" he asked , holding his hand out.

Kato shook it enthusiastically. "Deal."

…

Kato told Jason everything, these guys where all about Equality between benders and non-benders. _These guys are nothing but criminals with a cause_. Jason thought as he rode atop a streetcar towards the building in which they where located.

The teen leapt off the car and swung around the side of a building. The teen flew over rooftops before he attached another line to a building, he pulled down between his legs and bright his knees close to his body and shot another web before he let go of the other.

The costumed vigilante dipped down between alleyways before soaring out a crack between buildings. The building was close, it was small abandoned factory that hadn't been used in ages. Until now that is.

The teen attached a web to a flagpole as he fell and used his momentum to swing around it before launching himself towards the smokestacks. He swept two webs between the two and released his webbing, lowering himself towards the roof before letting go and dropping into the rusty rooftop.

The vigilante walked over the rooftop towards the ledge and transferred himself into the wall. Kato had told him that his home is right by the factory, so everyday after school when he had to walk home, he was targeted by the people inside.

Well I'm putting a stop to this. Jason thought as he crawled through a hole in the side of the building. Perching himself on the wall, the teen looked down to the five men gathered around a fire barrel. "So he didn't jump?" one of them asked.

Another man shook his head, "Apparently not. Spider-Man talked him down." he explained making the men groan in frustration.

"Well shit. I thought we'd gotten rid of that brat." Another said, making Jason's blood begin to boil. The teen decoded he heard enough and dove down towards the men.

"You guys are scum!" he shouted as he split kicked two men and sent them crashing to the ground. "Do you even know what it's like to get the crap beaten out of you!? Let me show you!"

Two men grabbed prices of rebar and swung them at the teen's face and abdomen. Spider-Man jumped over their heads and landed behind them into of the third man. He webbed him to the ground while the two club holders charged at him.

Jason grabbed one of the clubs that was swung while he kicked the other man away. Bending his wrist, he snapped the metal, the man stumbled, leaving room for Jason to deliver a fist to his cheekbone and sending him crashing to the ground.

The last man ran towards the costumed teen and swung the rebar, Jason's Spider Sense warned him but it connected with his the side of the teen's head. The young hero's feet left the floor and kicked the side of the man's head, "See how you like it!" Jason said as the man was sent to the floor.

The man reached out for the rebar but Jason put his foot in his arm that reached out for it, "Now. What the hell made you think that assaulting a boy in MY city was a good idea?" Spider-Man asked in a snarl. When he didn't answer he put more weight on his arm, "Answer me!"

"It's what we strive for! Equalists! We non-benders have been pushed around for too long!" he exclaimed, "We need to strike before they decide to get rid of us!" he said.

Jason was beginning to get sick of him, the teen stomped down on the man's arm, breaking it and making the man cry out in pain, "Get this through your head! The next time I hear that you guys are behind anything like this again I swear you'll be going to the emergency room instead of the police station!" he shouted before webbing the arm to the floor.

Jason crawled up the wall and exited the way he came in just as the police arrived at the scene. Jason shot webs to the smokestacks and pulled back on them before shooting himself away.

He had a few hours before dark, and Jason had a good idea where a good place to spend them would be.

…

Jason watched as his cousins started up the Airbending gates with Tenzin at his side, "Jason watch this!" Ikki said as she went right into the spinning gates in a Airbending stance, she weaves herself through the gates, dogging the panels expertly and jumping out in front of Jason. "TaDa!" she said dramatically.

Jason was fairly speechless, _And I thought I was good with reflexes_. The teen thought in shock and awe. "That was...spectacular Ikki." Jason praised as he kneeled down to the girl's level.

The girl beamed at him before she hugged her cousin. Jason was like the big brother of the family to her and her sister, and Meelo was taking a liking to him as well. The small toddler was already walking, one of the perks of being a Airbender, and was starting to talk as well.

Jason looked to Jinora as the gates began to slow to a stop, "I hope you guys don't expect me go through that." he said jokingly.

Jinora smiled, "Well..."

Tenzin gave Jason a knowing look, "You don't need to be a Airbender to be able to clear the gates. My brother managed to get through it." he said encouragingly.

The teen thought for a moment, he could easily clear the gates with his powers. The teen sighed when the girls have him puppy eyes, "Ok fine. Don't break my arm twisting it like that." he said as he stood.

Jinora and Ikki twisted their bodies and gathered the air around then before blasting the gates with it, spinning the tiles at high speed. Jason and Tenzin both gave the girls looks, "Couldn't make it easy could you?" he asked, the two girls grinned widely. "Of corse."

The teen took a deep breath, _Time for the performance of a lifetime_. Jason thought before he ran into the gates.

_This is hard_. Jason got hit by the first gate and was flung into the center of the the gates. _Oh crap._ Jason thought as he continuously hit by gate after gate. _I'm fighting against my instincts, it's like trying not to to flinch when I hear a loud noise._

Tenzin and the girls couldn't help but flinch when they heard more hits connect with the teen along with his cries of minor pain. Jason Wes smacked in the front so hard that he was flung out the way that he entered and landed on his back. "Jason? Are you ok?" Jinora asked.

The teen remained on his back, his eyes closed, "Words cannot begin to describe how much pain I feel right now." he stated.

…

Jinora and Ikki went all out with the gaws, "You look like a mummy!" Ikki exclaimed as that completely covered the teen's torso with white. Jason had been dragged to Jinora room with a play first aid kit. And the fake wrappings now sloppily covered the teen.

The teen smiled, "Well actually I look more like a burn victim." he said, making Ikki laugh and Jinora blush in embarrassment.

"Well it's harder than it looks!" she stated. Jason have her a sympathetic look, _Trust me Jinora, I know how hard it is to take of the real stuff like this_. The teen thought, remembering back to all his patch up jobs. His healing factor works only so well and if he starts bleeding in class for no reason then people will start asking questions.

Ikki looked over to her sister, "So are you gonna ask him? Are ya? Are ya? Are ya?" Ikki asked her sister.

Jinora gave Ikki a annoyed look, "Ask me what?" Jason asked curiously. "Jinora you can ask me anything you know that." he said.

The older sister looked down, "Well...it's just... " she started before looking up at her cousin. Jason gestured her to go on, "Well I was wondering...do you think that you can tell me what Spider-Man is like?" she asked nervously.

Jason did a double take at that, "Jinora is fan of Spider-Man, she thinks he's soooo dreamy." Ikki said mockingly, making Jinora blush as well.

Jason nearly fell off the bed, _OH GODDAMNIT! WHY!_ "Well...Spidy's kinda like a big brother to everyone I guess. He's nice, he listens to your problems, and he does his best to fix them." he said. _God this is so frickin awkward_! The teen thought.

Jinora took in the information, "Does he...have someone?"

_Kill. Me. Please god just kill me now_. Jason shook his head, "If he did have someone, they would always be in danger." he explained.

Ikki and Jinora gave a curious look, "So he can never be married?" Jinora asked.

Jason thought back to what Peter said on the subject. _'Don't dedicate your entire life to this. I know it sounds hard and it is, but try to find your own happiness'_

_But can I really do that? They would always be at risk...and god knows what would happen if someone found out my secret identity? _The teen thought to himself. _But...I am entitled to my own happiness I guess..._Jason looked to his eldest cousin, "Probably not. Too dangerous." he said.

_That'll get her off Spidy_. The teen thought cleverly.

"How romantic!" Jinora and her sister swooned.

_OH COME ON! _

…

"Sorry about the gates thing Jason." Pema apologized as she and her nephew prepared dinner. Jason was invited to stay for dinner which he was happy to accept. The teen also found out that he had a taste for vegetarian food, but he was not giving up being a omnivore anytime soon.

The teen shrugged, "I've gotten worse." he said thinking back to the rebar to the side of his face he took earlier today. His cheek was still sore from that little escapade.

Pema raised a eye at that, "Nothing bad right?" she asked.

The teen shook his head, "Don't worry. Mom taught me to keep my head low and my mouth shut when I need to." he said, making Pema laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked as he cut the carrots.

Pema shook her head with a smile as she slid the carrots into a bowl along with a bunch of other veggies, "When we where little, your mom used to stick up for men when I was little. I didn't stand up for myself but Ava was always around to help me." she explained. "One time this boy pulled my hair and Ava broke a few of his fingers."

Jason's jaw dropped at that, "Holy crap! I mean mom was always protective and all, but still...I'm a little scared of her now." he said in a shocked voice.

Pema chuckled, "You have no idea. Pass me that seasoning please." she asked. Jason grabbed the vial and handed it to the teen.

Jason thought back to Jinora's question about Spider-Man, "Hey Aunt Pem, can I ask you something?" he asked. The woman nodded, ready to listen to her nephew, "Is it selfish to involve someone in something if it may put them in danger?" he asked.

Pema gave him a strange look, "Where's this coming from?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Jason shook his head, "A friend of mine wants me to take them on one of my reporting gigs. And it may not be the safest place for them but I do want them to come along." he lied.

Pema thought about the question for a moment, "Well it depends on how much your friend wants to do it. As much as you? More than you? You need to take their opinion into consideration. The only thing selfish about that would be making the decision on your own." she said wisely.

Jason let that sink in, if he wants to find happiness, he should try to find it. "This has something to do with a girl doesn't it?" Pema asked, making the teen sweat drop.

"H-how'd you-" he started.

Pema wisely smiled, "Your mother made this weird look when she thought of boys. You have this goofy smile on your face, same one Ava used to get. " she said nonchalantly as she put the near finished meal in the oven, "So is she?" she asked.

Jason thought a moment, Well it's not like she'll blab to anyone. the teen thought. "This doesn't leave the kitchen. Last thing I need is the children constantly asking questions." he stated firmly.

Pema smirked, "Understood."

Jason leaned against the counter, "Her name's Akiko. And she's my best friend." he started, "She's brave, kind, she listens to what I say, and...I think I'm in love with her." he said timidly. Saying it out loud just made it all the more real to Jason, it also made him feel nervous as hell about it.

Pema have him a accepting look, "Jason, listen to me. If you like this girl so much, ask her out, and if you both enjoy it then do it again." she said simply.

_Oh god if it were only that easy_. Jason thought. _Between the Triads and the Super Villains I don't know if I'd be able to be in a commuted relationship without Aki knowing...unless I tell her._ The teen froze at that thought, _Would that really be all that bad? If I told her, if have someone to talk to about all my crap. But I don't want to put all that on her...but that doesn't mean I have to talk to her about it_. Jason thought.

"I'll think about it." Jason said decisively as the oven dinged. The teen slipped on some gloves and opened the oven and took out the food.

Pema smiled at the boy as he took the dish into the dining room. _Ah, young love. It's nice to see it again. Jason's probably the only one whose be experiencing that anytime soon with him living in the city...alone...with his own...apartment. _"Jason? Did you ever have a talk with Ava by chance?" she asked with a pale face.

…

_Well that was a little awkward_. Jason thought as he swung through the air. Pema was so close to having 'the talk' with the teen before he said he knew his things work. The teen jumped off the webline and I to the air just in time to see it, "Ok...that's new."

On the rooftop of one of the high rises was a wooden spider set aflame.

"I'll admit it's a creative way to get my attention." Jason said as he sprayed a web to one of the buildings below him before he began to fall. The teen fell through the air until the webbing straightened out and swung him over traffic and shot him into the air towards the high rise.

The teen jumped across the lampposts that littered the street before jumping into the air and firing a web to a building, the teen grabbed the web with both hands and pulled back on it and pulled the web down and gaining altitude. The teen let go of the web before attaching another one to a building and swung through the air and let go of the web.

Flying through the air, the teen attached a web to the ledge of another high rise and zoomed past the building before letting go of the webline and attaching to the side of the building with the spider on the roof. The vigilante crawled along the side of the building towards the rooftop and the burning spider.

The teen climbed atop the rooftop, there where two men waiting for him. One with a mask and goggles covering his face but leaving his mouth open. Jason had to hold back a chuckle at the man's funny looking mustache.

The other man's face was completely covered with a white mask with a red circle on the forehead. "Greetings Spider-Man."

Jason felt...off around this guy, "Well obviously you know who I am. But I don't think I caught your name." Spider-Man said as he crossed his arms.

The man raised a hand, "Forgive me. My name is Amon. I'm here about those men that you left for the police earlier today." he said, making the teen's eyes turn to a glare.

"If you think that what they did was acceptable then we're going to have a issue Amon." Spider-Man stated firmly.

The man beside him was about to step forward but Amon stop him, "I don't think you understand. Those men where former members of our group. However we found that their methods where a bit extreme so we kicked them out." he explained. "We do believe that benders are a danger to us non-benders, but having children commit scuicide is not what we approve of." he said.

Jason relaxed at that, "Ok, so your just telling me that those guys aren't your team's mascots." he said.

Amon nodded, "Right. And I also wanted to invite you to join us." Wait what? "Spider-Man this city has given power to the benders. You know that the triads use non-benders as their foot soldiers and pasties. And clearly you yourself are not a bender, you must know the pain that they can cause."

Jason thought back to Zolt. He was a bender, but that wasn't what made him kill his mother, he did that because he's a cowered and is evil. "I appreciate the invitation Amon. But I fight all crime, bender or no. And I have nothing against benders in the first place." he stated.

Amon sighed, "Ah well. No hard feelings Spider-Man. Thank you again for taking care of those men Spider-Man."

The nodded, "Hey all in a days work for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." he said with a shrug before jumping off the building and firing a web to a building below him.

The Lt. turned to Amon, "Sir, I know it's not my place to question your judgement...but why did you give up the others?" he asked, referring to the men that where currently in jail.

The man turned to his second in command, "Sometimes you need to cut a finger off to save the hand. Those men where a acceptable loss. And they 'll be with us soon enough. And it's better that Spider-Man think us not associated with them. His first encounter with the Equalists should be a warm one." he explained before he kicked over the smoldering spider.

"That way he never sees us coming."

…

Jason landed in his apartment, it was late , and he was ready for bed. After making a midnight snack, the teen took off his costume and collapsed onto the bed. Between the Kato incident and the ex- Equalists he had a fairly lazy day.

_May as well enjoy it. Who the hell knows what's going to crash into my life next_. Jason thought before he pulled the covers up to his chin and fell asleep.

…

"We found it!" One of the archeologists shouted. Hundreds of miles away from the earth kingdom there was a swamp. Many years ago, the swamp wasn't there and instead there stood a temple.

The temple was told to house many artifacts from the time before the hundred year war. "Alright! Get the earth benders and have them pull the ground under it up!" the head excavator ordered.

The temple was destroyed by the fire nation after they tried to destroy the land, but a single room survived and was later covered by the swamp. Protecting it form the outside world. The earth benders lifted the chest out of the ruins.

But the swamp was keeping the world safe from it.

"Hey, what's this on the side?" one man asked, looking on the front of the box.

"Hmmm. It's old world, and it's a name." The head of the excavation said, reading the symbols.

"Carrion? Who the hell is Carrion?"

**AN: For those of you not familiar with the name, I'll explain when he becomes relevant in the story. **

**I'm so happy that I got this one done! Now I get that many of you are asking for Mysterio and you'll get him eventually but I ask for patience. I already have a story figured out for him so don't worry. **

**Again some dark Spidy stuff this time around. Many people think that Spider-Man is just a big goofball he does deal with many hard issues that not many are comfortable with.**

**I thank you all for reading the story and I can't tell you how much I approvals the feedback that you all send me. I especially love the reviews that you guys give so keep sending me feedback! **

**Thanks again for reading, until next time true believers!**


	15. Chapter 15

Return of the hunter

Jason looked over his math homework, he figured that he better get it done in class now rather than wait until later tonight to do it when there's a full blown crisis or something. The teen glanced over to Xang and company, they where all using their combined intellect to finish their homework.

Akiko on the other hand was struggling a bit. Geometry was not her thing, Jason gave the girl a sympathetic look, he knew that Akiko worked hard when it came to school. But he also knew that some things don't click as well with some people as they do with others.

For him, it was girls. For Akiko, geometry. For Xang...well anything school related.

_Just a little longer. I just have four more- _the bell rang out. Most of the class got up and left for home, Akiko put her head on the desk and let out a groan of irritation. Jason walked over and patted her shoulder, "It's alright. It's ok...I'm supposed to say that right?" he asked.

Akiko lifted her head and pouted, "Can you do it for me?" she asked the boy in a childish manner. Jason had helped the girl with her homework before when it became too challenging for her to finish on her own.

The teen seemed to think about it for a minute but he already came up with his answer, "Come to my apartment tomorrow at noon and I'll help you out." Jason said, making Akiko smile at the teen's kind gesture.

The girl stood and hugged her friend, "Your the greatest Jason." she stated. The boy swallowed hard and returned the embrace, hey may had admitted that he liked her but he was still nervous about the subject overall. That and physical contact with the girl he likes isn't the best idea.

"I know. Now come on, let's get out of here." he said as he picked up her bag and led her to the door. The two walked out the front door of the school onto the snow covered ground, "I don't suppose you could make a tiny little fire to warm us up?" he asked pleadingly.

Akiko pulled her hood up over her head and dug her hands I to her pockets, "I have seriously been thinking about it." she said with a small smirk. Republic City's winters where fairly cold since the city was basically just south of the North Pole.

Jason gave her a look, "You just want me to take off my jacket and give it to you don't you?" he asked, waving the lower flaps of the clothing for emphasis.

Akiko mockingly gasped, "Jason! I can't imagine how you would think something like that of me of all people." she said with a big grin on her face. Jason rolled his eyes and took off his jacket and handed it to her. "What a gentleman. Thank you Mr. O-rou." she said as she slid the jacket on over herself.

Jason had started wearing thermal underwear under his Spidy suit to help stay warm when he she'd his other clothes. It set him back on cash a little but it was worth it. "I'm always a gentleman Aki. You just don't notice half the time." he replied.

Akiko lightly slugged his arm, "I do! I just believe that my presence is reward enough for your kind and heartfelt gestures." she said, putting her hands over her heart and tipping her head to the side dramatically.

Jason blushed at the words, "Well...I...do like...enjoying your presence." he replied.

Akiko couldn't stop the giggle slip from her lips, "Jason I swear to god your the most weird guy I know." she said, shaking her head at the teen's words.

"It's my most lovable qualities." Jason said with a shrug.

Akiko nodded in agreement, "Yep your a real catch Casanova." she said in a joking tone.

"Hey! I like to believe that I'm very like able from the female perspective." he said with a deadpanned tone.

Akiko eyes widened and shook her head, "No no no no! I didn't mean it like that! You a nice guy!" she said patting the boy's head which was looking down at the street.

"Wow. Gee I feel all better now." Jason said in a mom notice voice, a smile in his face as well.

Akiko slugged his arm, "Your a dork." she stated.

The teen smiled at the girl and gave her a playful nudge, "I know. You love it about me, don't deny it." he said cheekily making Akiko lightly bump his shoulder.

The two teens bid farewell when their separate ways came about. _Oh yea O-rou, real smooth, ya really swept her off her feet didn't ya?_ Jason thought to himself as he continued on his way home.

…

Jason sat at his desk hammering away at the typewriter. "So what's up with the Triads this week Whitney?" he asked without looking up from his work.

The woman gave the teen a irritated look from her bare desk. The crime was down in Republic City, and Whitney had to start doing reports on other things in the city. "Well other than the usual crap. Nothing. Thanks for asking." she said snippily.

Jason's eyes widened mockingly, "Someone's testy." he stated.

"Shut up." she stated.

Jason shrugged, "Look for what it's worth I'm sorry there's no...big...bank heist or something. Really, but lowering the crime? I'm chalking that up on the 'Good things ' board." he said.

The reporter sighed, "Well...there is one thing I've been checking out." she explained. She gestured the teen close, Jason leaned in, "Remember Kraven? The guy in the wired getup?" she asked. Jason nodded, "Well they looked at records at the Vault. He never showed up."

_Oh Shit!_ Jason thought, panic in his eyes, "Any leads on him? I mean a guy with that kind of fashion sense has to be hard to miss." Jason asked as he thought back to the man.

Whitney shook her head, "Nope, Kraven doesn't like playing prey. I gotta say though, I'd hate to be Spider-Man right about now. Kraven's probably looking for him right now." she said, leaning back into her chair.

Jason sighed at that, Should have figured that much. _And unfortunately I know exactly what the perfect bait for him is_. the teen thought as he got back to typing.

…

The teen swung through the cold night air of Republic City. The costumed teen attached a web to a building, the teen arced the web to swing him right at a building, the arc bringing him up the side of it before he let go and went into the air and above the rooftop. He then fired two webs on the opposite side of the building and pulled him over the roof and down towards the close knit buildings below.

The teen fired a web just in time to miss the tops of the buildings, the teen sung past a water tower and over a alleyway before letting go of the webline he had in his hands and attaching himself to the side of a building.

Jason crawled down the side of the building towards the group of triads trying to break into a business. There where five men in total, two of them where working on the door, two more of them where standing guard on either side of the alley, and the last one was leaning against the wall without a care in the world. "Hey will you hurry up? I'm freezing here!" the leader hissed.

"Well excuse me! My hands are shaking so bad I can barely keep the lock picks steady." one of the men at the door angrily replied. Spider-Man slowly crawled down the side of the building towards the man against the wall. Hand over hand, slowly as not to give himself away to the thug.

When his face was right above him, he reached down and webbed his mouth before grabbing his collar and sticking him to the wall, "Didn't your mothers teach you all that stealing is wrong?" the teen asked as he dropped to the ground and sprayed the men near the door onto the wall.

The two on either side of the alley cages at the teen, Jason merely crossed his arms and sprayed the alleyways with webbing, stopping them in their tracks. The teen looked around and sighed, "Ok this is just pathetic. I'm sorry, but I think this is just sad." he said as he shot two webs to the walls above him and pulled down on them before he was shot into the air.

The teen fired a webline and swung away from the alley over rooftops. The teen landed on the side of a building and pressed off, sending himself towards the streets. The teen fired a webline to the left of the street and swung down towards the streets.

The teen released the web and shot another one at a wall, right before it was cut by a arrow!

"Gah!" Jason exclaimed as he fell, the teen looked around and quickly shot a web to a nearby billboard and pulled himself to the base of it, "Hey I'm swinging here!" Spider-Man shouted before his Spider Sense went off. Across the street a barrage of arrows went flying towards him, "Well shit."

Spider-Man jumped overtop the billboard while the arrows impailed themselves into the board itself. Jason landed on the other side, Spider Sense tingling, he slid his feet back and threw his knees out and bent himself back. Just missing the spears that was aimed for his head and chest cavity.

_Ok, spears, arrows, traps, I'm thinking I got Kraven's attention. _Jason thought as he shot a web to a building and swung away just as another spear was thrown towards him. The teen landed on the side of a water tower, "Look man! It's cold, it's late, and I'm tired! Can't we do this tomorrow?" Spider-Man shouted.

"Ah, but the hunt is not yet over!" The man shouted. The teen's Spider Sense blared, he turned just in time to see hundreds of darts come flying at him. _Oh crap._ Jason thought as he attempted to doge them. He sprung off the water tower and tucked his legs close to his chest, making him a small a target as possible.

The darts embedded themselves in the side of the water tower. Jason landed on the roof. When he stood, he saw the man himself standing in front of him, _Double crap. _

Kraven delivered a powerful kick to the teen's chin, sending him back, "Nnnngh, since when did you get good at this?" Jason asked as he rubbed his wounded chin. Spider-Man ducked down under a swipe at his head and preformed a backflip, kicking Kraven back in the process, and landing on a smokestack and shooting webs at the man's feet only for him to dove out of the way.

"Last time we battled, I underestimated you. This time I look for a true hunt." He said with a triumphant smile. Just as Spider-Man was about to jump towards him, some...strange smell perpetrated his nasal passages.

The teen stumbled off the chimney, _The chimney! _Jason thought as he turned his head to the yellow smoke coming from the metal pipes. "Chloroform. Made into a gas can knock out a Sky Bison." Kraven said, walking over to the fallen teen as the gas washed over him.

Spider-Man's vision started to get spotty, darkness began to cloud his vision. It was all going black.

"Rest now Spider. For when you awaken. The true hunt shall begin."

…

Jason cracked a eye open. He was cold, well the right side of him was, _What the hell? I didn't leave the window open again didn't leave the window open last night did I?_ The teen inwardly questioned. The costumed teen put his hands to the ground and pushed himself off the ground, making his head spin.

"Ah, you awaken." Jason froze at the voice, he was still in his Spider-Man suit, and he was in the snow. In front of him Stood Kraven, fully equipped with machetes, bow and arrows, a spear, throwing stars, and most notably a Pygmy Puma.

"Dude. You have a pet puma?" Spider-Man asked unbelievingly as he staggered when he tried to stand, "That's...a little cliché." he muttered, making the animal growl, "Sorry little kitty but it is." he said as he stood up. Taking a look around, Jason started to panic.

He was in the woods.

There wasn't the sounds of traffic in the distance, or any tall buildings that he could see. He was out of Republic City, "Where the hell are we?!" he demanded. Jason had never stepped a foot outside Republic City all his life. So walking up in a forest kinda unnerved the teen, which was completely understandable given the circumstances.

Kraven raised a hand, "Do not fear, we are no more than a few miles from the city. Far enough so you can't escape easy, but close enough to reach it when the hunt is over." he explained as he pulled his machete from his sheath. "Here is what will happen. I shall give your a five minute head start. Then I shall hunt you." he said simply.

Jason gulped, "I don't suppose that you'll be using tranq darts this time huh?" he asked weakly. The hunter shook his head, "Ok. Just thought I'd ask. Bye." Spider-Man said before firing a web to one of the beaches and swinging away from the hunter.

The masked teen swung past branches and trees as he tried put distance between him and the hunter as best he could in the given time, _I have to get back to the city! The sooner I get back, the sooner I can take Kraven to jail and make sure he stayed locked up! _The teen thought as he landed on a sturdy branch.

"Ok, sun rises in the east, and sets in the west." the teen muttered as he looked to where the sun was. Jason had a good idea of what the world's geography was, and if he wasn't that far far from Republic Ciry, he could only guess that he was in the mountainous regions to the east of the city.

Either that or Kraven had been lying to him, but he didn't want to think about that possibly right now.

The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon, showing that Jason had been out all night. "Oh shit! My mask!" Jason said I realization. He had been out for a number of hours, during that time, could have Kraven have taken off his mask!? "Wait...no, Kracen may be a lot of things, but he has his honor. He wouldn't do it...oh crap then what does that say about me? I would have did it in a heartbeat." The teen said before shaking his head of the thoughts.

The teen looked back at the sky at the sun'd position, "Ok, so that means-" the masked teen started before his Spider Sense went off in his head. Spider-Man turned to see a spear come flying towards him. The teen instinctively leapt back as the spear flew towards him. Jason fired a short webline to the branch he was just on and swung under it as the spear went over his head.

The teen landed on the ground as Kraven came charging towards him, machete drawn, "Hey that was no where near five minutes!" Spider-Man said accusingly as the hunter swiped the blade at him vertically.

The teen sidestepped the attack as Kraven used his forward momentum to roll behind Spider-Man. Jason let out a large hiss as the blade cut through the skin on his back, the blade merely grazed him. Jason threw a powerful elbow back, hitting the man in the chest and knocking him back away from the costumed vigilante.

"Dude! Come on do you know how hard sewing is?" he asked as he shot webs at the man. Kraven threw a throwing star at the webbing, slowing it down long enough for him to get out of the way.

"Good! Even out of your natural habitat, you adapt." Kraven said as he drew his bow and arrow quickly and fired it at the teen.

Jason jumped from the ground up to the side of a tree, he jumped off it when he saw more arrows flying his way and landed hands first on a branch before falling off purpose and shooting a webline into the trees and swinging away from the sharp projectiles.

Jason got only a few yards away before his Spider Sense violently rang in his head, the teen felt something tug at his chest for a moment before it snapped, _A tripwire? What the hell could-oh crap! _Jason thought as he saw dozens of throwing stars spring from the trap.

With no other options, Spider-Man let go of the web and dropped to the snowy forest floor as the sharp objects embedded into the tree bark above. The teen landed on the snow and turned to where Kraven was last seen. _My colorful costume isn't exactly helping me blend in out here, I'm like a big friggin target_. Jason thought.

Though in his defense, why on earth would he have a white costume unless it snowed all the time?

A growl was heard from the bushes surrounding him, "Of course. Nice kitty?" Spider-Man asked. Spider Sense going off, the teen turned just in time to see the Pygmy Puma pounce from the bushes. Jason rolled under the large cat as it went over his head, the teen turned to see the Puma on it's hind legs and slash it's claws, barley grazing the teen's shoulder, making four cuts in his skin that went from his shoulder to his right pectoral.

_I should just make these things in bulk._ Jason thought as he grabbed the cat's forward leg and tossed it between two trees and making a web between them, trapping the cat for the time being. "Sorry man. But two on one isn't all that fair." he said, making the car roar at him.

When Kraven found his companion, Spider-Man was gone. The hunter approached his friend and cut him down, the cat giving it's master what resemble a sorry look. "Do not fret my friend." Kraven said as he crouched to the snow where a few specs of red stood out from the snow.

"You have given us a trail."

…

Jason leapt through the beaches of the forest's trees, _It's better that I save my webbing for later when I get to the city. But that doesn't mean it's not faster than this_. The teen thought as he flipped through the forest canopy. The young vigilante payed extra attention to his Spider Sense, just for precaution, he may have put some distance between himself and Kraven but still, better to be cautious than dead.

The teen's Spider Sense pointed down.

Spider-Man looked down in time to see bolas ensnare his legs and throwing him off balance, the teen feel towards the ground like a rock. As he fell, he saw what his Spider Sense warned him about, spikes.

The ground was covered with wooden spikes that where all pointed upward towards the trees. _Ok. I'll admit, the man plans ahead. I gotta give him credit_. Jason thought as he shot two webs on either side of him, slowing his decent. And I should give myself some credit as well.

He attached the webs together, making a tightrope for him to sit on while he got the bolas off his feet, "Impressive! Such creativity!" Kraven shouted to the teen. Spider-Man looked over to a nearby branch and saw the hunter himself with his spear drawn.

The bolas dropped to the forest floor below.

"That's more than I can say for your fashion sense!" Spider-Man shouted as he jumped towards the hunter. Kraven threw the spear towards the teen.

The masked hero shot webs at the weapon, the force stopping it midair and falling to the ground while Spider-Man tackled the man off the branch. Thinking fast, the teen made a firm net of webbing to land on in the apache between four trees.

Spider-Man rolled off the hunter while he recovered and drew two knives from his back, "Where do you hide all these pointy things?" the teen asked as he sidestepped the thrust towards his chest.

Kraven slashed his knives towards his head, Spider-Man dove back and pushed himself off the ground backwards into the air between two trees, he thence red two seems on rather tree and shot himself forward and connected his fist with the hunter's face, nearly knocking him off the safety net.

The man stuck a knives into the tree, keeping himself from falling before dislodging it and slashing it at the teen. Jason ducked his head back only for his feet to be swiped out from under him, knocking him back onto the net, his head barely going over the edge as his Spider Sense went off, _What could possibly-_

The puma leapt from the ground towards his head, _Me and my stupid mouth_. The teen lifted his head off the ledge Huang in time to see Kraven attempt to stab him with the knives. Spider-Man grabbed the man's wrists, stopping him from driving the blades into his heart.

"Ah! You still fight! Excellent!" Kraven said enthusiastically as he put all his body weight on his hands. The teen drew his legs from between the hunter's legs and tucked them up to his chest before slamming them into the hunter and sending him into the air.

"I'm not-" Jason started as he hopped back up to a standing position.

He shot a webline to the man's chest and pulled him back down to earth, "Your damn prey!" he shouted as he clenched his fist and delivered a a near jaw shattering uppercut to Kraven, sending the man back into the air. The teen sprayed a large web around the man, outset teaching his limbs so he couldn't reach for another weapon.

Jason crawled the tree up beside the hunter, he was uncocious.

"Thank god. Now stay here while I tell the police where you are when I get back to the city." Spider-Man said. The teen reinforced the web below them so that he would fall to the ground slowly and not break his neck.

The teen leapt away from the world's greatest hunter heading West towards home, "Well in the bright side, the only guy in danger this time was me...ok that sounds bad when I say it out loud like that." Spider-Man said to himself as he jumped off a cliff, shooting a webline to the Cliffside to slow his fall.

In the distance where the buildings of Republic City.

…

"Oh thank you Spirits. It's good to be home." Spider-Man said as he rode atop a delivery truck into the city. The young hero was tired, he didn't have a proper sleep in the last day, his adrenaline was starting to leave him and he was just plain cold. Sleeping in the snow will do that to a guy.

_'Attention all units. We reports of Spider-Man robbing the first national bank, all units please identify.'_ the radio on his gauntlet said.

_Ok...last time I check I was Spider-Man._ Jason thought before jumping off the car and shooting a web to a nearby building. The costumed teen swung over the late morning traffic, pulling the line to his right, he shot another line to his left before letting go of the other web and rounding a building.

_I guessed that at one point someone would get smart and copy my costume to use for their own needs but robbing a bank? The exact same day I was taken by Kraven? This guy is one of them. Either that or he's a really lucky street crook_. Jason thought as he went airborne.

The bank could be seen over a small cluster of apartment buildings, _Street crook or not, I can't have someone besmirching my good name now can I?_ Jason thought as he shot his hand out forward.

Pfft!

_Oh son of a-_

The masked teen tried his other hand and got the sane results, he landed on a rooftop about a block away from the bank. The teen let out a frustrated groan before running towards the bank's direction and jumping off the building towards the next one.

_Ok this is not my day! I mean I should be at home listening to the radio, not getting kidnaped by a leopard printed crazy jungle man and be hunted! _Jason thought with frustration as he leapt over and between buildings.

Spider-Man landed on a fire escape before jumping off and running along the wall opposite of the fire escape. The bank was in sight now, the teen sprinted at full speed towards the end of the alleyway, when he reached the edge , he put all his power into the jump.

The expanse was a four lane street that he barely managed to cross.

Jason rolled on the ground before springing up to the side of the bank. _This is the sane bank that Kraven took his hostages in, no way this is a coincidence. This was planned, now all I want to know is who the hell the fake Spidy is_. Jason thought as he crawled on the stone wall of the building.

The teen climes onto the roof of the building, running over to the vent that he came through last time, he ripped the cover off and crawled inside.

_God I hate air vents. It feels like any minute these things are gonna fall apart_. Jason thought, as he crawled hand over hand down the shaft. "Ok everyone, nobody do anything stupid and no one gets hurt." A voice said from the vent ahead. The teen looked through the grate and saw the imposter ordering people around.

His outfit was actually a amazing duplicate, the only real default was the palms weren't red. _Ok, I'm gonna surprise him_. Jason thought decisively.

The teen crashed through the vent and fell down towards the floor. "Hey nice suit dude!" Spider-Man shouted as he landed a few feet away from the imposter, shocking the captives and imposter. "Let me guess, spandex? Aw man you gotta be itching like crazy." the teen mocked.

"Y-your alive! But Kraven-" the imposter started.

"Is tied up at the moment along with his pet puma. Which tried to maw me! Do you know what that's like? Huh! No, you wouldn't because your not Spider-Man!" Jason accused as he leapt towards the man. Before the man could react, the real Spider-Man grabbed the man by the collar and hoisted up above the ground, "Look I'm just gonna cut to this whole, 'big reveal' short." he said before ripping the man's mask off.

"Holy crap! It's the butler!" Spider-Man exclaimed. The man's face was covered with another mask, completely white, the only thing that Jason could actually see was his eyes and mouth. "I'm screwing all ya, I got no idea who this guy is." he said, once he saw the hostage'a confused looks.

"This isn't how it was supposed to be." the man said, "No one was supposed to catch the Chameleon!" he exclaimed as the police broke through the doors.

"Freeze web...heads?" One of the officers shouted in confusion. Spider-Man tossed the Chameleon towers the officers, distracting them long enough flr the teen to jump up to the wall and bounce off it to the vent in the ceiling.

"By the way! Kraven is in the mountains gentlemen!" Spider-Mam shouted, sticking his head out of the bent only to be shot at by metal cables, "Ok! Ok! Sheesh! That's the last time I help you guys." he muttered as he crawled away.

…

"This was one long ass day." Jason said aloud as he jumped across rooftops towards his apartment. The teen's plan when he got home was to crash in bed after he cleans out his fridge. The past few hours where tiring beyoing anything he's done so far in his life.

The masked teen landed on the side of his apartment building and crawled around the side of it towards his window. "Thank god the worst is behind me." the teen muttered to himself as he owned his window and climbed in, taking off his mask as he did so.

So now, good, shower, sleep...and maybe a tetanus shot. Jason thought.

"Oh my god..."

The teen alarmingly turned to the voice.

In front of his apartment door stood Akiko, her face had the most shocked look in the entire world. Her hand covered her mouth just to stop herself from gasping in complete shock.

Jason on the other hand felt his world ending. His mind was going haywire trying to find someway to explain this. But in the end there was absolutely no possible way he could lie his way out of this situation. He was utterly screwed.

"Aki...I-"

He didn't get a chance to finish, Akiko fainted on the spot. Jason nearly jumped across the room and managed to catch the girl in his arms. Jason easily carried the teenage girl over to his couch and gently set her down.

"In all honestly I think this may have gone better than I expected."

**AN: So...that happened.**

**Thanks for reading and leave a review if you feel like. I appreciate your feedback and I'll get started on the next chapter ASAP. **

**Till then, see ya:)**


	16. Chapter 16

Secrets revealed

Jason paced the room back and forth frantically. Akiko knew who he was. _What the hell was I thinking! I should have remembered that I invited her here today! And I just took my mask off right in front of her! _Jason thought as he ran a hand down his face. Akiko was still unconscious on the couch, the shock was apparently too much for her.

Jason still had his costume on, he didn't want her to wake up not to find him and get out of his apartment before he could explain anything. He trusted Akiko, but he didn't plan on telling her about him being Spider-Man anytime soon.

"Maybe I could get her home before she wakes up? No, if she wakes up airborne she'll probably freak out and connect the dots. Not to mention if her parents are home they'll wonder his she got in her room without using the front door." Jason said, realizing his plan was shot down before it made it's way to the drawing board.

The teen sat down into his chair, only to wince when his wound on his back touched the material, "And I may need stitches now. Perfect. Just perfect." the frustrated hero muttered to himself. Jason usually made a plan for how to get out of trouble, but he had no idea how he was going to get out of this one.

"Uggggghh." The teen turned to Akiko with a bit of horror on his face. The girl put a hand to her head as she sat up, "What the hell-" she started. Her eyes shot open as she remembered what happened before she lost consciousness. _Jason is Spider-Man...Jason...is...Spider-Man..._

She turned her head to see the boy in question, still in his costume with the most scared look in his life on his face, "Um...hey...are you ok?" the teen asked out of genuine concern.

Akiko looked at him with awe, "Y-Y-Your...your..." she stuttered. She couldn't believe this let alone say it out loud.

"Spider-Man." Jason finished for her, "I am Spider-Man. Your not crazy, ok?" he asked. He could only imagine what was going through her mind right now. Finding out that her best friend was a super hero wasn't exactly something that happened everyday.

"Spider-Man." Akiko said as she sat upright on the couch. She was looking at the teen like...well like she found out his biggest secret. She just couldn't believe it, Jason O-rou, her best friend, was Spider-Man.

"Your not going to faint again are you?" Jason asked, seemingly snapping the girl out of her daze.

"Your Spider-Man!" Akiko yelled out, making Jason spring off his chair and cover her mouth with his hands. The young hero waited a moment, waiting for his door to burst down and police flood in, but thankfully none came. Akiko tried to pull his had off but Jason's strength made that almost impossible.

"Do you want me to be thrown in jail?" he asked as he withdrew his hand from the startled girl's face, only to have her stand and look him over, "Umm...what the hell are you doing?" he asked as she pulled at the suit.

"This is Spider-Man's suit." she said in complete awe at the material. Jason couldn't help but smirk at the her fascination, _Well I guess if I was in her position I'd do the same thing_. Jason thought, "Jason..." she said softly, seeing the wound on his shoulder. "How long?" she asked, her face giving him a pleading look.

Jason looked down at the floor, "About three months I think." he said truthfully.

Akiko's eyes looked over Jason, he looked different somehow, the costume aside, he looked like he's been beaten all over Republic City, "You look like you haven't slept in days." she stated, noticing the dark rings under his eyes.

Jason rubbed the back of his head, "I was kinda hunted for the last couple hours by Kraven...and his pet puma." he stated nervously.

Akiko's eyes widened, "A puma...as in a big cat?" she asked unbelievingly. Jason nodded, "Is that...what made those?" she asked, pointing to the cuts across his shoulder to his chest. The teen nodded again, "Doesn't that hurt?" she asked.

"Now that you mention it, yea it does sting a lot. Could you go get the first aid kit? It's under the sink in there." Jason said as he felt the pain return. The teen pointed to the kitchen where he usually kept his first aid kit.

Akiko hurried into the kitchen to get the kit while Jason got his gloves and upper costume off along with his thermal clothing. _This is actually going better than I expected_, I thought she'd be freaking out right now. Jason thought as he put the costume on the table, "Oh...wow..." Akiko muttered.

Jason raised a eyebrow, "What?" he asked, "Do I have something on my face?" he asked jokingly.

Akiko shot the teen a look, shutting him up as she brought the kit over, "It's just...I've never thought that you'd look like...that, without a shirt on." she said shyly. Jason then noticed something that slipped his mind, Aki was seeing him shirtless. The teen's face went completely red which Akiko noticed before chuckling, "Jason, I don't know how you haven't figured this out. But your...kinda...Erm...solid." she said, pointing to his chest.

Jason looked down and saw what she meant. Jason assumed that his super strength didn't have anything with his physique, he was still a skinny guy after he got his powers so he didn't think he had gained any muscles.

He couldn't be more wrong. His chest and abdominal muscles seemed more well sculpted than when he last checked. The teen looked at his arms and saw that they also had more muscle as well, he was still skinny, but he was incredibly fit. "Wow...I never thought is say this, but super powered puberty rocks." Jason said as he flexed his arm.

Akiko's blush returned, "Um...your cuts?" she asked, breaking the teen out of his own private moment.

"Heh...sorry." he said as he took the first aid kit and begun to tend to his wounds. The teen wrapped gaws around his shoulder, not bothering with disinfectant.

"Wait, what about stitches?" Akiko asked as she sat back down on the couch.

Jason couldn't help but smirk, "Don't worry. I heal fast for some reason. Like one day I got my arm dislocated and it healed a few days later." he explained.

Akiko just sat and watched as her best friend patched himself up. When he was done she stood up, "You ok?" she asked. Jason nodded, "Good." she said sweetly before slapping him right across the face.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!" She yelled at the teen with the most angry look in her eyes. _And this is what I was afraid of_. Jason thought as he raised his hands in a surrendering manner. Akiko took a few deep breaths before she seemed calm, the girl just realized that she slapped Jason. "I'm sorry. But you had that coming." she apologized, lightly slugging his arm.

The young hero let out a breath of relief, "In all honesty, I thought this was going to turn out much worse." he said truthfully as he and Akiko took seats on the couch. Jason glanced over to see Akiko's worried face, "You must have like a hundred questions." he stated.

Akiko gave him a pointed look, "Really? What gave you that idea?" she asked sarcastically. She shook her head, "First off, how the hell did you even get your powers?" She questioned.

Jason let out a breath, "That's kind of a long story." Akiko glared at him, "And I'll gladly tell you it anyway!" he quickly added. "But I should probably get some normal clothes on." he said, taking note of his lack of wear.

After a quick change, Jason sat down on the couch where Akiko had gotten herself comfortable and was inspecting his Spider-Man mask, "You saved my life..." she muttered. "You out yourself in danger and then saved my life that day." she said as she thought back to when her father attempted to take her away from her family.

Jason sat down beside the girl, "Yeah. It's what I do. Besides, I'd do it again in a heartbeat." he said honestly. Akiko glanced over at him and blushed. He took a breath, "This all started one day after school. I was heading home when I heard a woman screaming in a alleyway. I went down there, and went inside a building. There I met Madam Web, she...gave me a spider that bit me and gave me my powers." he explained.

Akiko's eyes widened, "You mean you got all those powers of yours, wall crawling, and web shooting, super strength, and all that from a little spider?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Well it was radioactive."

"What?"

"Radioactive. It's a new form of energy that Verrick industries is experimenting with." The teen explained. "And then...my mom..." he trailed off.

Akiko suddenly understood, Jason could have done something that day to save his mother. With his powers, he could have saved his mother before any of it happened. The girl moved closer to Jason, "Your mom would be proud of who you are Jason...I am." she said positively, making the teen blush. Akiko let out a laugh, "God it's so weird...I mean you saved my life that day Jason...and you just kept silent about it. Let Spider-Man take all the credit."

"Isn't that technically taking all the credit?" Jason asked.

Akiko smirked before she playfully elbowed the teen, "But this does explain a lot. Why your sometimes late for class, or why you have Spider-Man as a friend. It's just...I mean I couldn't imagine you as Spider-Man in a million years." she said in disbelief.

"Yeah, hiding super powers are harder than you think." he said as he recalled his encounter with the spinning gates on air temple island. He still hadn't set foot anywhere near the training pavilion since then.

"So what? You can't crawl on walls and shoot webs during the day. So what?" she asked with a smile.

"Well that and my Spider Sense." Jason added. He found out that his Spider Sense is kinda like a short range radar in a way. When he concentrates hard enough, he can actually feel what's around him for agree feet. But most of the time it's for short range only.

Akiko gave him a confused look, "Your what?"

"It's this weird tingle I get in the back of my head when I'm in danger. It's...kinda my newest one." he explained, making Akiko's eyes widen.

"New? As in you may get more? God your not going to turn into a giant spider are you?" she asked with concern. As much as she liked Jason, the idea of him all hoary and with right legs and many eyes did make her stomach turn a little bit.

Jason gulped, "I've actually tried not to think of that scenario but thank you for bringing it up." he said sarcastically. _If I want to want to be realistic about this, I guess that it's possible I could turn into a big fricking Spider. I just hope I can like control myself if it happens_. the teen thought with a shudder.

Akiko saw the scared look in his eye and playfully nudged him, "So what if turn into a big spider? I'll still hang out with you. Besides you'll still be able to rescue cats from trees." she said, trying to cheer the boy up.

Jason raised a eye, "You think that's all I can do Aki?" he asked as he stood from his seat before he reached under the couch and lifted it up single handed, making Akiko squeal out. "I'm thoroughly insulted Mis. Rupa." Jason said mockingly as Akiko clung to the side of the couch.

Throughout it all she was laughing. She knew that Jason wouldn't hurt her, "O-rou I swear if you don't put me down I'll burn this place down!" she exclaimed with a grin on her face. Jason smiled and stopped moving the couch before setting it down back where it was. Akiko slugged his arm, "Your a ass. But that was fun...your not going to stick webs on me are you?" she asked nervously, looking nervously at his wrists.

Jason gave her a questioning look, "Wait you think that my webs come from my body? Ew." he said simply. Just the thought of webbing crowning from his fingertips or something sounded gross.

Aki raised a eye, "Wait, then how do you..."

Jason smirked and pulled his sleeves down, showing his web shooters, "They're called web shooters." he said as he sat down beside Akiko as she took his hand and inspected the device. The teen flipped the trigger up onto his palm, "See?"

Akiko took the teen's hand and looked at the web shooter, "Cool..." she muttered.

Jason pointed to the canisters, "You see, I create a web formula that I store in these, I press the trigger with my two innermost fingers with enough pressure so it fires the web." Jason said. The teen aimed for his mask on the table and fired a web and pulled it to him.

"Jason, that's amazing." she said in awe of the device.

The teen chuckled, "What's amazing is that I'm able to buy the ingredients for them. You wouldn't believe how expensive being Spidy is." he said as he pulled his sleeve up.

"Then why do you do it?" Akiko asked, "Why do this in the first place? You don't need to do this Jason." she said. As incredible as all that he can do, Jason is her best friend, and she does not want him to get himself killed.

Jason swallowed and leaned back in his chair, "Remember what happened to my mom?" he asked. The girl slowly nodded, "Well the night she died, I went on a manhunt for the guy who set the fire." he said with a hard voice. Akiko gulped at the teen's change in tone, "I never found the man behind it. I still look for him everyday but I haven't gotten anywhere, but I did find the man who set the fire."

Akiko felt a sense of dread go over her at that, if she was in his position...

"I beat the crap out of him. I asked him why he did it. And you know what he said? 'My boss told me to.' like it excused everything bad he did. I left him for the cops to deal with." Jason said, sadness clearly in his voice. Akiko on the other hand felt a sense of relief at the fact that her friend didn't go over the edge with the man.

"I then learned the greatest lesion I could ever learn." he said, making Akiko's lean in with interest, "With great power, there must always come great responsibility." Jason said wisely.

The girl took in the words, power and responsibly. The girl looked down at her hand, she chose not to use the power that she had because of the bad things that came with it. Jason could do the exact same thing anytime but didn't.

Jason turned to see Akiko looking at him with...a admiration in her eyes and a small smile on her lips, "I think...I understand that." she said, clenching her hand and making the young hero smile. Her eyes suddenly got a mischievous Look in them, "So I suppose that you'll want me to keep this all a secret?"

"Very much so. And I mean like you don't tell a soul." he stated. "I don't even have a plan to get out of this." he admitted. "Parents, brother, no one. Got it?" he asked, trying to make his point clear.

Akiko smirked, "Alright. On one condition." she said, her lip curling into a smile.

"Ok. What?"

…

_How the hell did I get talked into this again? Oh wait, yeah that's right. That's my own fault...at least I think it is...maybe it's Aki's. _Jason thought as he shot a web to the edge of a building and swinging himself high into the air with Akiko webbed to his back. The girl's condition for her silence was that Jason web swing her around the city.

And Akiko was loving it.

"This is incredible!" she yelled as the two flew through the air. Jason had refilled his web shooters at home and was already using them to entertain his friend. Jason had made Akiko wear her hood, so that no one would recognize her if they looked up and saw some red and black hair fly by.

"I prefer sensational. Now hang on tight!" he said as he shot two weblines on either side of them as they fell before shooting themselves high into the air, and making Akiko let out a cry of delight. Jason couldn't help but smile under his mask at the girl, web swinging was amazing. No question.

The teen attached a web to the building on his left and pulled the two through the air, spinning as they did so, "So you like it?" Jason asked over the wind rushing past his ears.

Akiko grinned as she tightened her grip around the boy's neck, "You have no idea."

'Attention, we have reports of one of the tram cars being hijacked. Suspect is considered dangerous. Any unit please identify.' His gauntlets came to life, making both teens look at the device.

"You have a police scanner too!" Akiko asked in surprise. The two fell towards the ground at high speeds before Jason sprayed a web to his left and turned, altering his course in midair.

"It doesn't let me hear the radio so it's not all that great. Now look, I don't want you in any danger, I got a idea how to stop this thing but you need to do what I say. Got it?" he asked as the teen swung over rooftops.

"Sure thing." Akiko said, _Jason knows what he was doing. Right?_

The teens landed on the rooftop, "Good. Then stay here while I stop the tram. Got it?" he asked. Akiko nodded before Jason dove off the building towards the streets covered with light snow below. The sounds of sirens could be heard coming down the streets, Jason fired a web to his right and barely missed the ground as he swung towards the chase.

The trolly cars of Republic City can go pretty fast, in fact they where designed that way in case of a emergency that needed people to get out of the city. And unfortunately the car was full of passengers. Jason sprayed a web to the side of a sky scrapper and swung through the air as the car came down the street towards him.

The teen let go if the webline and dropped to the roof of the car. The new driver looked up to the roof, "What the hell was that?" he asked the crowed. The pedestrians where all on the ground of the car, making sure that they didn't do anything to upset the hostage taker.

Jason looked through the window of the trolly while upside down, "Excuse me. I think that you may be speeding sir." Spider-Man said cheekily, making the man snap towards the costumed teen with fire in hand.

Jason pulled his head up just in time to miss the roar of fire that shattered the front windows. The teen peered inside to see the control panel melted, "Hey that's coming out of your paycheck!" the teen yelled as he crawled to the side window, he made four webs that attached to the buildings that passed by him before he drove his hand through the side window and webbed the man before pulling him out the window and attaching the weblines to his back.

He flew away from the trolly, stopping above the street in midair, being held by the webs.

_Ok. This may hurt_. Spider-Man thought as he crawled to the front of the trolly until he was in front of the bumper. The teen perch himself on the front and then slammed his feet into the ground. The teen gritted his teeth and let out a groan of pain as his feet embedded themselves into the ground and the trolly began to slow to a stop.

"Well...it's better than stubbing my toe." Jason said through gritted teeth. The sounds of police sirens made the teen look up to the rooftop where Akiko was looking at him wide eyed. Jason shot a webline to the awning and pulled himself up to her. "If I where you, I'd pick my jaw off the floor. Who knows what's been there." he said as he turned to watch the scene unfold below.

Akiko just gave him a look, "Didn't that...hurt?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"It kinda like pressing your back against a wall if you where trying to move it...and then the floor started moving...there's some stinging." he said, stretching his arms back. The officers had easily gotten the door open and where now helping the former captives out. All with relived faces.

Akiko couldn't help but smile as a old woman was helped down off the trolly, "You really love doing this don't you?" she asked.

The teen turned to her, his face unreadable under his mask, "I don't get paid, I hardly get any thanks, and they want to arrest me for what I do. But all in all? I do love doing this. Mostly because I'm doing good things for people." he explained. The masked hero turned his back to Aki, "Hop on. And no kicking this time. I'm not a ostrichorse." he said as Akiko wrapped her arms around his neck.

Akiko smiled, "Your a nice guy Jason." she said simply, seemingly leaning closer to the teen, making him blush under his mask.

The teen stuck her to his back so his wounds wouldn't be hurt and pulled them into the air.

…

"I have two things of dumplings here!" The cashier at the food s stand shouted. The tables where all full with food, and the girl who ordered them wasn't at the counter, "Damn kids." the cashier muttered as he set the bags down and turned to get a trash bag. When he turned back, the dumplings where gone, and a good tip was webbed to the countertop.

Across the street on the rooftop of a building was Jason and Akiko digging into their bags, "How often do you do that?" she asked as she plopped a chocolate dumpling in her mouth.

Jason had lifted his mask so that he could enjoy his order of sweet dumplings and took a bite of them, "You'd be surprised. And with all the chocolate you eat I'm surprised your not..." The teen shut up one he saw the glare that his friend was casting him. "..not...more amazing than you already are." he added, making her smile.

"Thank you Jason." she said sweetly. "Here." she said, tossing the teen one of her dumplings, Jason stood out from the wall he sat on and caught it. The teen sat down back on the wall and tossed the sweet in his mouth, "Hey, why do you always crouch?" the girl asked curiously.

The teen shrugged, "I look cooler when I do. Makes me seem more...spider like." he explained. He figured that he may as well act somewhat like a big spider, and it just started to feel natural after a while.

The girl chuckled at that, "Somehow that only makes sense coming from you." she said, shaking her head at her friend's strange sense of humor. "Does that mean you fight like a spider too?" she asked mockingly.

Jason tilted his hand from side to side, "Well it's mostly just knocking them out by using my powers to overpower them. I don't exactly have a fighting style." he explained . "I was working on this kind of martial art I use called the Way of The Spider. But I haven't exactly put much time into developing it." he explained.

Akiko raised a eye, "Really? Hm...maybe we should spar sometime and see if what your using is any good." she said with a small smirk on her lips.

Jason gave her a unbelieving look, "You fight?" he asked disbelievingly.

The girl proudly nodded, "Yep. My dad suggested it. It's pretty fun, besides how do you think I was able to hold those anti benders off on my own?" she asked, giving the teen a grin.

"Wait then why didn't you use it on your dad?" Jason asked.

"Because I'm not stupid enough to take on a guy who can control fire. Unlike you apparently." she retorted, a playful smirk on her face. Jason stuck his tongue out in response, "And you call me a five year old" she muttered as she continued to eat her dumplings.

"Whatever. I could totally beat you with my Spider Sense." Jason boasted.

"So a little tingling feeling will save your life? Yeah, sure." she said mockingly.

Jason hopped down next to her, "Alight, let me show just how this works." he said as he turned his mask around so that he couldn't see and making Akiko choke back a laugh. "Just hold up some fingers near my head. You'll see." he explained.

The girl rolled her eyes and held two fingers near the back of his head, Jason grinned under his mask, "Two. It's your left hand." he said, making the girl gawk at him.

"How the hell?" she asked as Jason turned his mask back.

"Trade secret." he said as he crumbled his bag and tossed it towards the waste bin down in the street below. The bag miraculously made it's way in there, "Come on, last trip is to your home." he said as Akiko pulled her hood up and covered her head and ponytail.

…

Jason and Akiko descended into the alleyway beside her home by webline, "You should charge people for this. It's better than driving that's for sure." she said as they touched down on the ground. The girl unwrapped her arms from around Jason's neck, the teen letting go of the web as she did so.

"Nah. With my luck, I'd probably get one of the guys who sticks gun under their seats...ewww." Jason groaned as he got that image in his head. "Sorry I didn't help with your homework." he said apologetically.

The girl shrugged, "Trust me , it's no big deal. You saved my life, least I can do is do my own homework." she said with a shrug. She gave the teen a joking look, "Don't like, go to schools and say that. That's just stupid."

Jason chuckled, "You have a strange concept of being even Aki." he stated, shaking his head at the girl as she stuck her tongue out.

"Well...thanks again...for everything." she said sincerely. In truth, Jason was completely exhausted from his lack of sleep and it was starting to show. But he spent the entirety of the day with his friend. Plus, Akiko listened to his plights, and that was enough reward for him.

"Back at you." he replied. Akiko smiled sweetly at the teen before she wrapped her arms around him, making the teen blush red as his mask.

Akiko pulled away and bushed off a bit of snow on the teen's shoulder, "Well stay safe. Don't do anything too stupid. And...well you know the rest." she said as she began to make her way to her front door, "Stay safe web head." she said , giving him a wave as she walked away.

Jason smiled under his mask before leaping to the roof of the building and swinging away from the Rupa household.

…

Akiko walked towards the dojo where she practiced her martial arts. Huang was right about her practicing fighting, it helped her relive stress, and she had been doing more of that since her attempted kidnapping. Hitting something just helps people relax, but sometimes a pillow isn't enough.

The dojo was fairly extravagant, it was a large temple surrounded by a tiny bit of yard that was covered by snow. It was large enough to fit a large amount of people I side of needed but was littered with medicine balls and other workout equipment. Akiko had come here for a few months now and had made a few friends here.

It was actually amazing that they managed to find enough to put it in the middle of the city.

As Akiko entered the dojo, she noticed that no one else had shown up yet. Taking advantage of her temporary privacy, she entered the woman's locker room and changed into her workout outfit. When she exited the locker room, her hair had been tied up in a ponytail as usual, but her turtleneck had been replaced by a bright red tank top, and her pants where now a baggy pair of karate pants.

The girl turned her attention to the entrance as the front door opened and closed, "Hey Asami." she greeted the heiress as she entered the dojo. Asami first started coming to the dojo to learn how to defend herself a few months ago, Akiko had helped her when she struggled and the two became good friends because of it.

"Hey Aki. How's your weekend treating you?" Asami asked with a smile as she headed to the locker room to change. Akiko thought back to the day before with Jason. The words crazy, exciting, amazing, weird, and jaw dropping passed through her mind. Though those words seemed to fall short somehow.

The girl shrugged as Asami exited the locker room a few moments later, "Eh, the usual. So what's up in the world of riches?" she asked. She obviously knew of Asami's wealth, bust didn't treat her any different because of it, much to Asami's happiness.

The heiress mere sighed, "More of my dad working non-stop to make sure his little girl is safe." she said, she knew that her father wanted to protect her, especially since the Vulture incident. That was part of the reason she decided to learn how to defend herself.

Akiko shook her head but chuckled nonetheless, "He's trying to help you. Even if he's annoying as hell. Come on, let's get a dummy for you to hit. That'll make you feel better." safe said, looking on the positive side. Asami nodded in agreement as the two girls decided to find something to find something to practice fighting.

…

Verrick and Zhu Li walked side by side down the hall in Verrick industries HQ. "So how is Octavius's research coming along? Do we have anything solid yet?" the man asked as they passed through a set of doors leading to the R&D private sector. Verrick had decided to create this part of the building when he decided to invest in more...controversial matters.

"We have something. But since Otto Octavius's intelligence was at a much higher level than the average man. So it's controllable but on a smaller scale." Zhu Li explained while they passed by people hard at work on their arduous projects.

The two entered the testing room, complete with reinforced glass window for viewing the tests and lush seats to sit in. "So this is it? Hmmm... I was expecting something smaller to be honest." Verrick said truthfully while he scratched his chin.

On the other side of the glass was the first component to his newest idea. Since there was no way too replicate Spider-Man's powers exactly, he settled on the idea of making something better than Spider-Man. His reports show that due to the powers that Spider-Man has closely resemble that of a spider, he surmised that some sort of otter agent made gave him his powers.

So he thought of doing the same. But with something that could kill a Spider.

On the other side of the glass stood a model, on the back of the model was a mechanical structure that dropped down to the floor like a tail. On the end of it was a razor sharp slightly curved blade, the 'tail' part had been designed to house a generator that uses a incredibly high amount of electricity.

"Alright then. Who are our candidates for Project Scorpion?" Verrick asked as the blade on the tail shined ever so slightly.

**AN: Yep. Bringing back the superviallns. So Aki knows Jason's secret, and now there's no secrets between the two of them, plus Jason finally has someone to talk too about his Spidy problems. **

**Now I've gotten some comments and reviews about what I'm going to do for Book 2 and 3 on Spidy's side. I have something already planned people, so don't worry. As for book 4 I'm still waiting along with you guys.**

**Thank you for reading this chapter, I know there wasn't much action this time around and I'm sorry for that but I hope you liked it all the same! Your all wonderful for reading this and I can't thank you all enough for the people who give me reviews, you know you are.**

**Next time: Sting of The Scorpion!**


	17. Chapter 17

Sting of The Scorpion!

Spider-Man gripped his web with both hands as he pulled it back and kicked his legs out, making him fly into the air after he let go of the web. The masked teen attached another web to a building ahead of him, swinging downward, he let go of the web and did a front flip in midair before shooting another webline to fly over a cluster of buildings.

School was running a few minutes late because of the increased snowfall and Jason managed to squeeze some time in to do some crime fighting. "Help! Oh holy spirits help me!" a man shouted from the alleyway below. The teen turned in midair and fired a web to the fire escape of a building, swinging around it and descending to the alley below.

The man was being held up at...well technically earth point since he had two jagged things of rock pointed at the man's face. Jason went into action, he angled his web so that he would head right for the man before he let go of it, sending him feet first into the man and making him fly into some nearby garbage bins.

"I got a joke for this...but it's way to dumb to say." Spider-Man said decisively as he looked over to the man he rescued.

"Oh my god it worked! Lee you ok?" the man asked, running over to the downed robber, much to the teen's confusion.

The man helped his friend out of the trash, "Yea I'm fine. Oh man I hope I get a scar!" The man said excitedly. _Ok. I am so confused right now words cannot describe it_. Jason thought as the two high fived each other.

The teen just stared at the two men before leaping into the air and firing a web to the nearest tall building. The teen flew past it and saw the school in the distance, "My life is so weird." Jason muttered as he landed ontop of a building and jumped to the school rooftop before changing into his clothes.

Republic City seemed to be getting more and more snow as Christmas got closer. And of corse that meant that every time Jason went out as Spider-Man he would nearly freeze himself to death.

Once fully changed, Jason dropped from the roof of the school and to the field below before making his way into the school. Thankfully he wasn't late. This time anyway.

…

It took a few weeks, but Project Scorpion was ready. Verrick walked alongside Kenzo, the leading candidate for the program. "So how does this work again sir?" the candidate asked as they entered the room with the suit.

The suit didn't only have the tail now. The entire suit was dark green, it had a stripped pattern that stopped at the forearms, shins, and face. The gloves and boots where dark green and had clawed appendages for the fingers and toes. The claws where razor sharp like the tail, able to embed themselves in brick and steel.

The mask covered the face, save for the mouth, the lenses where light orange that barely showed the eyes. "Well it's in two parts, first the suit goes on, then we inject you with the serum." Verrick explained as Kenzo looked over the suit.

The man's eyes drifted to the tail, "I'm not going to grow a tail am I?" he asked.

Verrick shook his head, "The mask has a transmitter in it that sends commands to the tail. I'll be like a extension of yourself." the man explained in the simplest of terms to the man.

"Ok. Now what was that about a serum?" he asked.

Verrick walked over to a nearby table, there sat a syringe with a green hue to it. The formula was lightly radiated so that the chemicals in it would boost the user's strength, speed, and almost all other attributes. "Don't worry. It'll only sting a little. And besides. Something tells me you'll love the payoff." Verrick said with a smirk.

Kenzo shrugged, "Whatever you say sir." he said before he disrobed to his skivvies and slipped the suit on. The green suit was bigger than him, "Umm...it's a bit bigger than I am." he said as Verrick grabbed the syringe.

"Don't worry. I'll fix that in a jiffy." he said lining the needle up to the injection port on his neck. He quickly plunged the needle into the man's skin and pressed down on the plunger, making Kenzo let out a hiss.

Verrick withdrew the needle as Kenzo rubbed his neck where the needle breached the skin. Before he could say anything, he felt like he was burned by the needle. The man dropped to his knees and let our a cry of pain.

He felt his body start to change, his blood started to boil, not from anger, but from something else. His body started growing bigger and bigger, filling the costume and increasing his size.

Verrick just stood by smiling as the transformation ended, "Sorry about the discomfort Kenzo. But on the plus side, the experiment was a success. Now, time for the first test." he said, the the tail of Scorpion's suit twitched.

…

Jason sat down beside in the library with Akiko at free period. The two had become even more close since Akiko found out Jason's secret, she showed him support in what he did, even of it worried her to near death half the time. Though she didn't admit it to the teen's face.

"So what's up I'm the crazy world of yours today?" she asked, giving the teen a joking look.

Jason sighed, "Well if you want crazy, I was swinging today and I found this guy being held up by a earth bender." he started. "I swung down, rammed into him, and right when I'm about to ask the guy if he's ok. He runs over to the guy who tried to mug him and helps him up and asks if he's ok!" Jason said, making the girl give him a strange look.

"Your serious?" she asked unbelievingly.

Jason nodded, "Oh it gets better. The guy I knocked off his feet was hoping to get a scar out of it." he stated, the girl give him a humorous look.

"God you do deal with the crazies don't you?" she asked. She would hear about a few nutty guys in Republic City, but someone wanting to get beaten up by Spider-Man? That was a new one.

The teen shrugged, "It comes with the job. Besides it's the last week of school before Christmas break. I can deal with a little more insanity than usual." the teen said without worry.

Akiko waved a warning finger in front of his face, "Be carful what you say. Knowing you it'll probably come back to bite you in the butt." she said, making Jason want to keep his mouth shut. Akiko shook her head, "Never mind, let's focus on the fact that we have all next week off." she said, looking out the window to the snow falling from the sky.

Jason slightly grimaced at that, it would be his first holiday without his mother. And that thought had been on his mind recently, but he also say it as his first holiday with his aunt's family. "Yeah. That sounds pretty nice, no more rushing to get to school in the morning."

"No homework." Akiko added, "And best of all, no having to get up early." she said almost dreamily.

Jason gave her a pointed look, "For some of us perhaps." he said. Jason wakes up extra early every morning so he can get some crime fighting done.

Akiko winced, "Oooh, sorry. But come on! Even the bad guys take breaks during Christmas." she said, trying to get her friend out of working himself to death.

The teen sighed, "Look, I still need to get presents for Pema, Tenzin, Ikki, Jinora, Meelo, you probably, Xang, Lee, and Kong. And the only way I'm getting that is of I get stories, and get the money for the stories." he explained. He already had money saved up for Christmas presents and he had gotten a idea of what the Airbender kids wanted, but ontop of that he had to find something for his friends.

Akiko gave the teen a sweet look, "Wow I didn't know you doubled as a Santa Clause." she joked.

"It's the cross I bare." the teen replied as he laid his chin on the table.

Akiko laid her head across from him, looking the young hero in the eye. "So what cha thinkin of getting me?" she asked, giving him a bat of the eyelashes just to amuse them both.

Jason smirked, "I don't suppose a little red riding good outfit would be appropriate." he replied, making Akiko glare lightly at him for the use of her childhood nickname.

"Oh yeah? Well wouldn't that make you the big bad spider that will poison me, paralyze me, stick me in a web and suck my blood out?" she asked cheekily.

Jason sat in a somewhat stunned silence for a few moments, "God damn Aki you have a morbid sense of humor don't you?" he asked.

The girl shrugged, "They're still better than your jokes."

"No arguments here." he added.

"And I'm surprised that your not curious to what I'm thinking of getting you." she stated. Jason actually hadn't thought of what he could possibly get. _I don't suppose it could be a million untraceable Yuans? _

Just before Jason could respond, the sounds of sirens passing by got his attention to the window as ten police cars passed by.

Akiko have Jason a look, "Jason...your not gonna-" she started as the teen rose from his seat.

"We have a hour. I'll get it done in like ten minutes. Fifteen tops." he defended. The teen had had to disappear during school a few times.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Just stay safe. I don't want to attend a funeral the same week as Christmas." she said as Jason walked away towards the exit to the library. The teen walked through the snow until he was sure no one would see him jump to the side of the building and crawl up it.

The teen quickly changed into his Spider-Man outfit. The teen sprinted to the side of the building before jumping off the building and shooting a web to a building's ledge. The teen swung around it and headed down the street behind the police cars which had doubled in number.

Jason fired a web to the side of a building, swooping over the rear cars until he came across a familiar one. Captain Wei's. The masked teen landed on the roof of the moving car and tapped on the diver side window. The window rolled down, "You better not trash this car like you did the last one." he stated, keeping his eyes on the road.

Spider-Man shrugged, "The day is still young. So what's with all the cars? Please tell me this is a convention or something." the teen said almost pleadingly.

Wei shook his head, "Nope. Prison break on The Vault." he said, making Jason's eyes widen. Every super villain he put away was there! Every single one which had a grudge against him, and also wanted him dead. _Oh son of a bitch_. Jason thought.

"There are no words to describe how doomed I feel right now." he stated.

Wei cast him a sympathetic look, "You beat them once Spider-Man. You could do it again." he said encouragingly. _In fact you my just be the only one who can_. The captain thought as he drove towards the prison.

…

Otto Octavius sat in his cell, the guards where smart enough to remove the metal arms from him to the armory. Even if no one could work them like he could. The genius had been in the cell ever since Spider-Man had caught him, and it irritated him to no end that he was defeated by the hero.

He was not the only so called 'super villain' that was sent here. Vulture, Rhino, Sandman, all of them where sent here after they where apprehended. And none of them where enjoying it one bit.

As Otto pondered these facts, his train of thought was interrupted by the sounds of a explosion ringing out. The man rushed to the bars of his cell to see what the commotion was about. The prison guards where flung down the hall, each slouching to the ground. On the other side of the hall was a man with one hand holding a guard against the ground and a tail with a razor point.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's your lucky day!" the man shouted before he drove his tail into the lockup control panel, mapmaking all the gates open. Scorpion threw the man to the wall beside the panel, sending him their the bricks.

Otto walked out of his cell, watching as the other inmates started to riot. The former scientist shook his head at the former prisoners, "Idiots. They'll be lucky to make it through the front door." he muttered as he headed towards the armory.

Scorpion merely watched as the chaos unfolded. Verrick's test run of his powers where going well. And he was just getting started.

…

The Vault was designed as a maximum security prison. Only recently had it been partially converted to a hiding place for the super villains that have recently plagued Republic City. The prison had walls high enough so that a Airbender couldn't get over if they tried, and even if they did, the prison is surrounded completely by a trench that is half a mile wide and a quarter of a mile deep.

On one side was a forest that ran for miles, in the other side was a cliff that had jagged rocks at the bottom.

The prison itself is able to house 250 inmates plus 24 hour staff. The only way onto the island is by a bridge that is raised and lowered by Metal Benders on either side. It's about the same size of Air Temple Island on the inside, the interior of the wall is covered by tampered metal, so that even Metal Benders can't make a way out.

The Vault is located roughly ten miles away from Republic City, and almost the entire Police force was on their way to stop the breakout. Along with Spider-Man.

"How long until they can get the bridge up?" The masked teen asked the Captain as men rushed around them. The bridge was the only way on or off the island unless you could fly, _And unfortunately, some of the guys over there can fly_. Jason thought as he remembered Electro and Vulture.

The Police Captain shook his head, "We're not supposed to raise it. If we do they could overwhelm us with numbers. We're supposed to wait until the airships arrive so we can drop in from above." he explained.

The teen shook his head, "We can't do that! What about the guards on the inside?" he asked. The men on the inside have no backup except for the Police on the outside. And the Airships could take forever.

Wei ran a hand down his face, "I know. But unless you can fly across and make sure that the gate isn't barricaded with inmates or something we can't move in." he said, turning to the teen with a thoughtful look on his face. Wei was silent for a moment, "You can't fly...right?" he asked.

Jason looked towards the bridge, on either side of the path where tall trees. "Well not exactly...but I may be able to do something." Spider-Man said as he moved to the middle of the road, getting the attention of most of the officers.

Wei had ordered that no one try to arrest the vigilante since it was possible he could help. And Jason may have a idea on how to do that.

The teen show two weblines to the trees on either side of the road. He started moving back down the dirt path slowly, so the lines don't recoil or snap. The officers watched in interest at what the Vigilante was doing, "What the hell?" Wei questioned as Spider-Man leaned backwards.

"Word of the wise! Never try this at home!" Spider-Man yelled to the officers before he shot himself into the air, letting out a yelp of excitement as he flew through the air. The trench surrounding the Vault was half a mile wide, and Jason wasn't even halfway across when he started falling, "Crap."

The masked hero looked around frantically for something to swung from, the wall was too far away, but the cliff if the trench...

The teen aimed his hand towards the Cliffside and fired a web at the rocks. The teen started to fall, heading for the chasm's depths. The webline straightened out and Jason angled himself so that he would swing around the cliff.

The teen passed the rocky side and flew into the air on the other side from the momentum of his fall. Spider-Man let go of the web and flew through the air towards the wall of the prison, landing on his hands and feet. "Ok. That worked." the teen said in slight awe.

The sounds of the police cheering made Jason smile as he scaled the side of the wall quickly. When he stood on the top of the wall, he saw just how bad the situation on the I side was.

The Vault was divided into five buildings . Four of them where cell blocks, and the last one was the administrative offices, which both related orders and housed the guards. One of the prison blocks where busted into, the side of the wall having been demolished.

"What could have done that?" Jason wondered aloud before shaking his head, "Doesn't matter. What does matter is that I seal that hole up and get the police in here." Jason said to himself before sprinting to the ledge if the wall and leaping off the edge of it.

The teen fired a web to a flagpole and used it to swung himself towards the broken wall, where the inmates where coming out of in droves. "Unless your all Christmas carolers I'm afraid I'll have to stop you." Spider-Man shouted to the men below as he drove his feet into two men's heads.

The teen rolled into a crouching position before shooting two webs on the men on either side of him and jumping into the air. He crossed his arms into a X shape and pulled the men into one another, while they where still dazed, Spider- Man landed on the side of them and lifted both men into the air before throwing them into a group of men that tried to rush him.

Jason leapt over to the hole in the wall and started to spray it shut with webbing. The teen's Spider Sense went off, Jason looked just in time to jump out if the way of a firebender's attack. "Well you must be nice and toasty in this weather."

Spider-Man rolled under a fire kick and shot a web at the man's leg and pulled it out from under him, making him fall to the ground before the teen landed on his gut. "God where are the police when I need them?" Spider-Man asked himself as he stuck the man to the ground.

The police where currently raising the bridge to the prison, the process takes about fifteen minutes though. So Spider-Man was on his own for the time being.

Jason covered the exit to the prison with webbing, so that no one could exit the building. "Well that'll work got now. Ok now I should try to-" his Spider Sense went off. The teen turned a second too late and was blasted with a bolt of electricity, sending him crashing into the yard.

Jason groaned in pain as he sat up, "Hey Spider-Man. Remember me?" the masked hero looked up to see none other than Electro himself in a orange jumpsuit, Electricity cracking from his fingertips.

Spider-Man wanted to wine, "Hey spark plug. You know, you look much better in orange. You should keep that look." Jason said before shooting a glob of webbing at the man's face. Electro burned it off in seconds, giving Jason time to send a double kick to his face.

Electro slid across the snow, clutching his now bloody nose, "Nnnnhh. I don't got time for this. I'll fry you later." Elector said before gathering the electricity around him and flying into the air.

"God and I thought I made bad puns." Jason muttered to himself as he jumped towards a nearby flagpole and used it a step before leaping into the air after Electro. The teen's Spider Sense went off just in time, he turned to see another electrical blast heading for him.

Spider-Man twisted his body sideways to make the blast just miss his torso. The teen landed on the flagpole he used before and searched for where that blast of electricity came from, "Ok whose the jerk that's throwing hits when my back is turned! Not cool whoever you are!" he shouted.

"That would be me." Jason looked down at the base of the flagpole, there stood a man in a green suit with a razor tipped tail. "My name is Scorpion. And I'm here to kill you." he said, sending the tail over his shoulder and slicing the metal pole.

The teen leapt off the pole and onto the ground as it fell, "Scorpion? Really? What about Stingray?" Spider-Man questioned, Scorpion leapt over and dove his tail towards the teen. Jason flipped out of the way of the tail, as it slice through the air he was at, "Hey it was just a suggestion!"

Spider-Man leapt towards the green costumed villain, Scorpion withdrew his tail and swiped the teen away with a powerful hit by the side if his tail. Spider-Man was sent towards the wall of the cell block, crashing into the bricks. Jason let out a grunt of pain as he pulled himself out of the wall just in time to see Scorpion's pointed tail coming right at him.

The teen latched his fingers to the wall above him and flipped himself up onto the wall as Scorpion's tail crashed into where he did. Jason barely had enough time to doge the claws that nearly shredded his face off. The teen back flipped up the wall, putting distance between him and the man, "Oh come on! Does everyone wall crawl now!"

Scorpion embedded his claws into the wall as he scampered up the side of the building and closed in on the teen. The man swung his tail towards the teen, Spider-Man jumped off the side of the building, he attached two webs to either side of Scorpion and pulled himself down onto the man's back, ramming his body into the wall.

Jason was about stick him to the wall but the man's tail sent the teen crashing to the ground, "I have to say. I'm disappointed, I expected a real fight out of you!" Scorpion said as he landed feet first onto the teen's chest, making him cry out.

_I think he just cracked a few ribs_. Jason thought as Scorpion raised his tail above his head while Jason tried to get his foot off his chest. "Any last words web head?" he asked.

"Yep. Your not the first person to say that." Spider-Man said before covering the man's lenses with webbing. "And I'm pretty sure your not going to be the last!" he said triumphantly . Scorpion drove his tail into the ground next to Spider-Man's head, Jason rammed his fist into the side of the man's kneecap, making him buckle down.

The teen rolled away from the man, hissing as his ribs came in contact with the ground. The young hero stood just as Scorpion jumped towards him, "JUST DIE ALREADY!" he shouted. Spider-Man fell on his back and kicked the man in the gullet before tossing him off to the side.

"Nnnnrrggh, your stronger than you look." he stated as Jason sprayed his tail with webbing, only to be pulled towards the man. Scorpion clawed at the teen's chest, making Jason cry out in pain. The claw marks went vertically across the spider on his chest, Jason kicked off the man, sending the both of them away front one another.

Scorpion aimed his tail towards the hero and fired his electrical bast at the teen. Jason saw the blasts coming and jumped to his left and dogged the blasts as he twisted his body to avoid them. Jason shot a webline to the wall of the prison and pulled himself out of the way of another blast. "My grandmother can shoot better than you!" Jason taunted as he swung alongside the wall, dogging another one of scorpion's blasts.

_This is bad. This guy is stronger, faster, and more well equipped than me. But that doesn't mean for a second I can't beat him!_ Jason thought before landing in the snow covered ground.

Before scorpion could charge towards the teen, the gates to the prison opened, police beginning to flood into the Vault. Scorpion did not want to tangle with the police force so he sprinted towards the inner wall, "Oh so you'll fight me but not the police? I am somewhat insulted!" Jason shouted as he ran after the man.

Scorpion turned his tail back and sent blasts of electricity towards the teen. Jason leapt over them towards Scorpion who turned and delivered a powerful tail swipe, sending the teen crashing into the flagpole that he cut down earlier.

"My ribs..." Spider-Man groaned. His chest felt like it was on fire, and he was pretty sure at least three of them where bruised if not cracked. The teen sat up and watched as Scorpion climbed to the top of the wall, disappearing from sight.

Captain Wei rushed over to the injured vigilante, "Hey kid you ok?" he asked, helping the teen onto his feet.

"Oh yeah...great. Never better." he said sarcastically.

Wei looked up to where the Scorpion had disappeared, "So I take it that guy was the one responsible for this?" he asked. The masked hero nodded. "Great. Any chance he said where he'd be at for the rest of the day?" he asked.

"Nope. Now if you'll excuse me, I got to go get my ribs taped." Jason said before shooting a web towards the wall and pulling himself towards it. The teen crawled atop and grimaced at the sight of the forest. "It's gonna take more than a hour to get back to the city." he says sadly before leaping off the wall.

…

Verrick was satisfied with the outcome of the test. The test participant was currently getting his suit removed so they can assess the man's state of mind and body. "Zhu Li, get me a thing of the most expensive wine I have." he said before turning the radio to the news broadcast.

'Were getting reports now that the situation at the high security complex known simply as, The Vault, is now under control. Chief Lin Bei-Fong of Republic City's police force has stated that because of the breakout, Republic City's borders will be closed as to not all want escaped convicts into the city for a unspecified amount of time.' The radio buzzed out.

Zhu Li returned to Verrick's office with a wine tray and clipboard. "Here's the wine and report sir." she said, setting the wine try with bottle and glass on his desk and handed him the report.

The CEO looked over the report and frowned, "Are these reports accurate?" he asked. Zhu Li nodded, "So now he can't live without the suit?" he asked. The report read that do to the amount of brain activity that he produces now, his body needs some way to burn off the extra activity. The only way to really do that would be through the brain/radio wave interface in the suit.

"They told him...and he's fine with it?" he asked disbelievingly.

Zhu Li nodded, "His exact words where, 'Hell so what? If I get all those little tricks and I need to wear the suit now and again who cares?' I was surprised myself." she said, quoting what the test subject had told her.

Verrick opened the bottle of wine, "So the test was successful. Cheers." he said before raising his wine glass.

…

"Damn. That looks painful." Akiko commented as she helped Jason bandage his ribs. The teen asked for her help since patching himself up is hard enough when he winces every time the cloth touches his skin.

Jason gritted his teeth, "Trust me, it feels worse. Are you done yet? I think I chipped a molar." he said as Akiko wrapped the gaws around his torso once more before snipping the bandages off the roll.

"There ya go. Good as new." she said, giving him a light pat on his shoulder as he laid back on the couch of his home. Jason had missed three classes in the time it took to get back. He had to finish his schoolwork over Christmas break if he didn't want his grades to lower.

Akiko laid beside her friend, she looked at him with both relief and sympathy. He managed to get home safely, but non unharmed. "God where do these nut jobs come from?" Jason asked aloud.

The girl shrugged, "Maybe it's like the universe's way of testing you as a hero?" she provided hopefully. The two stayed silent for a moment before chuckling at that idea, "Sorry, sorry. I had to put it out there." she said as Jason put his upper cloths back on, concealing the bandages.

The teen shrugged, "No problem...hey... How would you like to come with me to Air Temple Island? I got to go and check with Pema and Tenzin for what they're getting for the kids anyway. And I know you don't want to leave me yet." he said, making the girl flush pink.

"What gave you that idea?" she asked, twirling a price of hair near the right of her face. "And are you sure that they'd be on with it? I mean I don't really know them..." she added.

Jason smirked, "Trust me Aki. They won't mind at all." he said encouragingly. Akiko still didn't look fully convinced. She didn't know much, if anything, about Airbender Culture. Jason put a hand on her shoulder from behind the couch, making her look up at him, "They'll love ya Aki. Trust me." he said.

Akiko smiled at the teen and sighed, "Ok. Fine. I'll call my mom and dad real quick and tell them I'll be home late." she said before she went to go use Jason's phone.

After Jason refilled his web shooters and extra cartages, the two exited the apartment and headed for the island.

…

Akiko looked slightly green as the two friends rode the ferry to the island, "You ok there Aki?" Jason asked as Akiko's knuckles turned white as she clutched the railing in a death grip. _Wait...green, scared to death...oh my god. _"You don't like water do you?" he asked, getting a shaky nod from Akiko. "Aki we're perfectly safe here. Boats are kinda made to do that."

"Boats also sink!" she exclaimed, making Jason slightly jump. She took a breath, "Sorry. It's just...I don't know how to swim." she said, flushing slightly as she did so.

Jason smiled, "Hey nothing to be ashamed of. Who knows, maybe your Firebender side makes you hate the water or something." he said, making Akiko give him a small glare. The boat lurched as a small wave kicked the hull of the ship, making Akiko wrap he arms around the railing.

Jason walked up beside her and put a hand on her should, calming her slightly, "Look I rescue people all the time. You'll be fine." he said reassuringly. The ferry rocked again, making Akiko slip off the railing and cling to Jason instead.

Jason looked at Akiko who had him in a vice grip around his torso. Jason's face turned pink as did Akiko's but she was grateful at something to stop the rocking of the boat. "Hey how come your not a pinball like me?" she asked.

Jason grinned cheekily, "I don't suppose gum on my shoe would explain it."

The girl held onto the young hero until the ship docked, "Umm...you can let go of me now if you want." Jason said with a grin. Akiko slugged the teen's arm, pulling her turtleneck up to hide the blush on her cheeks.

The two exited the ferry and stopped before the stairs. Akiko looked at Jason with a pout, "Carry me?" she asked with a child like voice. Jason probably would have said no if it where anyone else. But Akiko's pout rendered the teen useless.

"Hop on." he said, crouching slightly so she could climb onto his back.

Akiko smiled widely, "I was actually hoping for a piggyback-"

"Not on your life." Jason interrupted. Akiko took what she could get before climbing onto his back.

…

After going up a few flights of stairs, Akiko finally spoke, "Wow. That looks very tiring." she said mockingly with a playful smirk. She knew Jason had no problems with carrying her but she just liked rubbing it in his face.

"Zip it. And thankfully we're almost there." he said as he came to the fork in the road. The teen stopped for a minute when he heard the sound of air blowing, he'd come here often enough to know what that meant. "You may want to get down now." the boy advised.

Akiko headed his warning just before three blurs came from in front of them and tackled Jason to the ground, scaring Akiko and making Jason let out a grunt of pain.

"Jason! Your here!" Ikki exclaimed

"Why have you come here city dweller!?" Meelo asked

"Hi Jason." Jinora said simply.

The three of them all clung to the teen's waist, making him have to hold back the moan of pain he was holding in. "Hello children." Jason said as he pried his cousins off of him one by one.

Akiko was watching from the side with a smile on her face, _Even when he has cracked ribs, he'll let his cousins use him like a jungle gym_. she thought as Jason stood. The kids all gave him welcoming smiles, they all saw Jason as the older brother of the Airbending family and he embraced the role fully.

After prying the kids off him, they took notice of the new visitor. As per usual, Ikki got to the new person first. "Hi I'm Ikki! What's your name? Why's your hair red? Did you paint it red? Can you paint your hair red? Why didn't you paint it pink? Or purple?" she asked in rapid fire mode.

Akiko blinked, "I'm sorry what was that first one?" she asked, opening another barrage of questions from the girl.

Jason walked over to his second oldest cousin, "Ikki. Remember what we talked about?" he asked. He had talked to the girl about trying to talk slower to new people. He said that even though it's exciting that not everyone is as fast as she is.

Jinora walked up beside her sister, "This is Ikki, my name is Jinora, and this is my brother Meelo." she said, introducing her siblings at a much slower pace than Ikki.

Akiko smiled at the young girls, "My name's Akiko. It's nice to meet Jason's family." she said, kneeling down to shake the girl's hand. Jason couldn't help but smile as Jinora shook his friend's hand.

Ikki looked at the teen and then to his friend, "Are you Jason's girlfriend?" she asked innocently. Both teens faces flushed red at her question, each of them taken off guard by her question.

"You know I've heard that so much by now..." Akiko said, trailing off before she turned to a blushing Jason. "You better not be filling these kids heads with lies Jason." she said, a small smirk on her lips.

Jason raised his hands defensively, "I didn't say a thing I swear!" he stated, making Akiko giggle at the teen's scared expression along with the Airbending kids.

Meelo pulled on his cousin's arm towards the home, "I'm turning you into our mom and dad intruder!" he exclaimed as he pulled the teen towards the main complex. Akiko couldn't help but snort, the Amazing Spider-Man being bossed around by a toddler.

The teens fallowed the children towards the the main house, Jason walking alongside Akiko, "See? Not that bad. They just energetic...and talkative." he explained as the main building came into view. Akiko's jaw nearly dropped at the sight of the temple.

"Holy crap..." she muttered so only Jason could hear, Jason plainly nodded, "I just...holy crap." she said in just the amazement of the temple.

"Hey don't get all awe struck on me. It's pretty cool I know." he said, nudging the girl with his shoulder, knocking her out of her daze as Pema opened the door to the home.

"Jason. Good to see you hon." she said, as the teen closed the gap between then and gave the kind woman a hug. The teen pulled away, giving Pema room to see Akiko over his shoulder.

"Aunt Pem. This is my friend Akiko. Aki, this vibrant woman is my Aunt Pem." Jason said, gesturing to each woman in their own respect.

Akiko gave the teen a playful pout, "Why can't I be vibrant?" she asked jokingly, making Jason blush and Pema along with the kids laugh.

"Oh don't fret. I already have a word that describes you." he stated, making her lean on to hear along with the others. Jason gave her a mocking look, "What? You thought I was gonna say it?" he asked, earning a light punch to the arm.

Pema gave the girl a warm smile, "Welcome to our home Akiko. Please come in." she said, moving aside and clearing the doorway.

Akiko was nearly dragged inside by the children, Jinora asking if she wanted to come see her book collection which she agreed to. Pema looked at the girl with a smile as she was pulled off towards the girl's rooms. She turned to her grinning nephew with a knowing smile, "She seems like a lovely girl Jason." she said, making the teen blush.

The young vigilante scratched the back of his head, "Lovely isn't what I'd say." he said with a blush as he entered the home with Pema. "And before you ask, I a already have a word that describes her better than lovely." he said boldly, making Pema smile at his confidence.

His word for Akiko was Elegant.

…

"So what's the next test?" Kenzo asked, flexing his tail. At first it felt unnatural, like leaving a string bump against your skin that part of your clothing. But after a short while it felt like he always had it.

Verrick grinned, "How do you feel about Spider-Man Kenzo?" he questioned.

The man shrugged, "Well when I first heard about him. I thought he was a freak of nature honestly. People don't shot webs from their body, that's a fact. But now? Forgive my language but I think he's a big pain in my ass." he said honestly. Though he could be called a hypocrite since he was in a similar position as the wall crawler.

The CEO smirked, "I need to explain something to you Kenzo. Originally, this project was supposed to replicate Spider-Man's powers. But since we have no idea how he got his powers we decided on aiming higher. Project Scorpion is a brach of our main goal." he explained straightly to the man. People on a need to know tend to get angry when they find out the big scope of things, better to come out with it now.

"The main goal?" Scorpion asked curiously.

"We want to be able to replicate, of not improve Spider-Man's powers. But if we want to do this correctly. We'll need Spider-Man himself." Verrick explained. He couldn't just ask the man to give his life in the name for science, even more so if the goal would be for the betterment of his bank account.

"Ok. So you want Spider-Man. Any ideas on how to get him?" he asked. This would all be much easier if there where a hotline to the vigilante.

The man shrugged, "I encourage you to use your imagination."

…

"Mis. Pema this is amazing." Akiko said as she feasted on the woman's meal. After merging Tenzin, the family had invited their guest to dinner, after a quick confirmation from her parents, she agreed.

Pema waved her hand, "Just Pema Akiko. I'm not one for formalities. Thank you though." she said as she ate her vegetarian meal. Akiko didn't eat many vegetates but after some reassurance from Jason she found tat the meal was excellent.

"Not many people think that Airbender meals are tasteful, but with the right experience, they can taste better than anything in the city." Temzin said proudly, making Pema smile at her husband.

"Trust me Tenzin, if I didn't know what meat tasted like, you may have gotten a new addition to the island." Akiko said, taking a sip of water.

Jason couldn't help but smile. _Aki's acting like she's been doing this for years_. he thought. "Well remember you get your head shaved when you get here." he stated, making the girl twirl a if get in her hair. Jason's eyes widened slightly when she didn't respond, "I'm not suggesting anything Aki. But is good food really worth your hair?" he asked.

"I'm thinking about it...still thinking." she said after a moment.

Jason looked at his uncle, "Tenzin help me out here. Tell her horror stories from your days of high school!" he pleaded.

Tenzin gave him a strange look, "I didn't go to high school. My mother homeschooled us until middle school. After that I traveled the world for a while and came back when I was twenty." he explained.

"You can do that?" Akiko and Jason both asked.

Tenzin gave his nephew a stern look, "Not that I'm interested. Just wondering." Jason added quickly, getting a nod of agreement from Akiko.

Ikki nodded, "Yeah besides, you guys get to go out into the city without moms and dads." she said.

Akiko gave Jason a strange look, "They where in the middle of the whole Electro affair." he explained to the girl. _Just think, I met my family as Spider-Man before I met them as Jason O-rou. Crazy world._

Tenzin sighed, "We heard about him escaping from The Vault. I don't understand how the prison was beached. It's never happened since Toph helped create it." he said, thinking about to the news report he heard earlier today.

"Well when I went there to report on it I saw a big guy in a green suit dressed like a Scorpion. Tail and all." he said. It wasn't exactly a lie, he did go there. And he wrote his story on it, or was.

Pema gave her nephew a worried look, "I wish that you wouldn't get the most dangerous assignments. We all worry Jason." she said, getting nods from all around the table.

Akiko saw the flash of pain in his eyes, "Well Jason took me on one his trips. He actually needs binoculars to even see anything from how far they keep him away from it." she lied. Pema and Jason seemed to brighten up at that, even if she felt bad for lying.

Jason sent a thankful smile to the girl, "Akiko. Why is your hair red?" Meelo asked from beside her while he stated at her ponytail.

The girl smiled and shrugged, "Beats me Meelo. Jason actually used to think I painted my hair like this." she said, tugging on a red strain of hair. As much as the young hero hate to admit it, he actually did think that was the case for a time.

"Oh! You paint Akiko?" Jinora asked, interested in the girl's hobby.

The girl modestly blushed, "Yeah. A little." she said shyly. Says the girl who painted her bed sheet. Jason thought.

"She's being modest. She's so good that she can paint with her toes." Jason said, making the kids gawk mildly at their guest. Akiko blushed as she received 'wows' from the children.

"Can you show us?" Jinora asked hopefully, her siblings giving her the most adorable looks that they could.

"Oh fine. But let me finish eating." she said as she went back to her food.

After finishing her food along with the kids, she gave Jason a half threatening glare before being dragged by Ikki and Jinora to see her skills. Meelo hopped on the table in front of Jason and pointed to the girl, "Jason! Marry that woman!" he demanded before chasing after his sisters and leaving a flustered Jason behind.

The teen looked to his smiling aunt and uncle, "Don't you two go thinking I'm going to be making you two grandchildren anytime soon...or would it be grand nephews and nieces." he said once he thought of it.

Pema and Tenzin shared a knowing look, "We aren't expecting any. Yet. Now could you help me clean up?" Pema asked as she started collecting dishes.

"Sure thing aunt Pem." Jason said as he helped her clean up while Tenzin went to make sure the kids didn't the the girl to death.

…

Republic City Radio, or RCR, was one of the only news broadcasting stations in the entire world. The broadcasting of news and warning the public was essential to help make sure the public is safe.

It was also one of the most tedious jobs in the world.

Shiro Shinobi read over the news report that he was to read over and sighed, "I guess the old saying is true. No news is good news." he said as he read over a murder in the docks area. "The least we can do is do something exciting over the airwaves."

Not a moment after he said that did the glass window looking out to the city crash open. Shiro backed up to the control panel that managed the music and broadcasts. Scorpion crawled into the room, "Shiro Shinobi? I have a special news bulletin for ya."

…

Jason scrubbed the dishes with his shirt and costume sleeves pulled up to his elbows. "So how's it going with the kids' presents?" he asked as he put one of the dishes away. Pema and her husband where planning on getting the kids each their own presents. For Jinora they where planning on getting a collection of Avatar Aang's adventures. Ikki was getting a radio for her room, and Meelo was going to get his first Airbender staff.

"Well we got Meelo and Ikki their presents, but we're having a bit of trouble finding the rest of the collection for Jinora." she explained. Jason was still trying to find something that each of the kids would like, he was thinking of getting Jinora her own bookshelf, Ikki would probably like to do something with him that burned off most his energy. And Meelo he was thinking of getting him...well something at only Meelo would like.

Jason thought for a moment, listening to the music coming from the radio while he did the dishes, "I could probably help find the missing volume for Jinora's collection. I already have the bookshelf and I was thinking Ikki would like learning how to skate. And maybe some comic books for Meelo." he said.

"Comic books?" Pema asked.

"They do have interesting stories. Who knows maybe Meelo will take a liking to reading because of them." he suggested. Comics where one of the newest forms of entertainment that came to Republic City. And all sorts of kids where taking a liking to them.

Pema just smiled, "Well one thing I've learned with Airbending children is that they're always energetic about almost everything. So I'm sure Meelo will live it." she said as she put the plates away. "I gotta say Jason. Having you here with us...it's made our family feel much bigger." she said, making the teen look down into the dish soap.

"I wish mom could feel that way too." he said sadly. _I wonder how she and aunt Pem would get along after all these years. Well I knowing them both, they're probably get along like long lost sisters would. _

Pema put a hand on his shoulder, "Jason. Your my family, and...to be honest. Your like a son to me and Tenzin." she said, making Jason's chest feel tight all of a sudden. "I know you miss your mother. And I have no doubt she misses you as well, but this is your home now Jason. You know, focus in the good instead of the bad."

Jason took her words to heart and smiled. He did have a family, one that loved and cared for him. And that's more than some people in the city can say. "Thanks aunt Pem." he said gratefully, wiping the wetness out of his eye.

The woman smiled and put a arm around her nephew, "No problem at all. Besides, I always wanted a normal child. Airbenders are hard to mother." she explained .

Jason couldn't help but chuckle at how wrong that was.

The music on the radio abruptly stopped, _'We interrupt this regularly scheduled program for this announcement. My name is Shiro Shinobi, and I along with the rest of the workers at RCR station have been taken hostage.'_ Jason and Pema both snapped to the radio.

_'Our captor, the Scorpion, has demanded that Spider-Man himself come to the radio station to come face him in exchange for our safety.'_ The radio chimed out.

No! All those people...

_'Spider-Man. I hope you can hear this. Please...help.'_ Shiro pleaded over the mechanical box.

Jason turned to Pema, "I need to go." he stated, "They'll... Uh, probably want a reporter there." he added, once he saw Pema's alarmed look. The woman still didn't look entirely convinced, "I'll be on the ground of a high rise. His stinger is not that big." he said reassuringly.

Pema sighed, "Still, be careful." she said.

Jason first went to go find Akiko and tell her what was going on, "Wow Akiko, that's so cool!" Jinora said in awe as Jason neared the girl's room. Jason entered and saw Akiko completing her little project.

The drawing was of Jinora, Meelo, and Ikki in amazing detail. Under their faces where the words, 'New Airbenders'. "Consider this my Christmas present to you three." she said, handing the work of art to the three of them.

Akiko saw Jason by the door and walked over to the teen, "What's up?" she asked, seeing the worried look on his face.

"Scorpion has hostages at the RCR station." he explained in a whisperer so thy the kids couldn't hear him.

Akiko gave him a worried look, "Jason your still hurt. You need to rest, you need time to-" she didn't want her friend to go walking, or swinging in his case, to his death.

"They don't have time Aki. I gotta go." he said, leaving no room for debate. The teen looked over to the kids who where all admiring the drawing that Akiko had drawn. "Tell them for me? I think they may want to spend more time with you than a regular like me." he lightly joked.

Jason saw the look that Akiko had, she was scared for Jason. The teen gave her a nudge, "Hey. I'll be ok. Don't worry." he said encouragingly.

Akiko smiled before she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him, "Don't go dying on me hero." she whispered.

Jason wrapped his arms around her waist, "No worries. I'm Spider-Man. I haven't lost yet." he stated with confidence.

The two let go of each other before Jason headed for the docks at full speed.

…

Jason fired a webline to the edge of a building, swinging high above the streets to the radio station in sight a block a away. The teen flew I to the air before rocketing down to the streets below. _I know that I can beat him. I got to beat him._ Jason thought while he fired a webline to the building below. The teen used the building like a pendulum, falling at high speeds before swooping above the pavement and into the air towards the top of the tower.

The teen swung around the antenna with the letters RCR on the side of it before letting go with a webline attached to it, repelling down the aid of the building to the broken window which Scorpion entered from. Spider-Man landed beside the broken glass and peered in .

The hostages where all inside the room, with the green man himself blocking the only exit out of the building. _Ok, element of surprise time_. Jason thought as he climbed towards the small window further down the wall in the opposite direction.

He slid open the glass and silently entered the hallway to the broadcast room. He crawled on the ground towards the door, the teen stood and...knocked on the door.

Scorpion turned to the door, "Ok this can't be-" he started before a fist broke through the door and connected to his face, sending him over the captives head and into the wall on the other side of the room.

"Didn't you know that breaking a window is seven years bad luck?" Spider-Man asked as he ripped the door off it's hinges. The captives spent no time at all getting out of their room, giving the masked hero thanks as they went by. "Come on Scorp. We're both arachnids. You wanna hug it out?" he asked.

Scorpion sent his tail at him full speed, Spider-Man dropped to the ground and on his toes and fingers while the metal tail went overhead. "Sure, I'll squeeze the life out of you!" Scorpion yelled as he charged the teen. The teen hopped to the ceiling hands first as the man's fist indented the floor, he swung his legs back and drove them into his face.

The man grabbed Jason by his leg and threw him to the wall, making spider web cracks all around it before charging towards the teen, "I can't get a break today can I!" he yelled in frustration before Scorpion tackled him, taking themselves and the wall outside.

The teen wailed in pain as they fell through the air, thinking quickly the teen shot weblines at the rou drop of the building and pulled the two of them towards the top, sending Scorpion into the wall back first. The teen leapt off him towards the roof, "Hey slowpoke! What's wrong? Not used to fighting in the air?" he asked as the man recovered and scrambled up the wall towards him.

_That last hit was bad, damn I think one of them is broken. At least one_. Jason thought as he landed on the rooftop, fallowed quickly by Scorpion. The man swiped at the teen with his tail but Spider-Man easily dogged it. The tail embedded itself in the service entrance to the roof, giving Jason time to close in on Scorpion .

The man swiped his claws at the teen who ducked under them and delivered a full powered gut shot, making the man keel over slightly. The teen then delivered blow after blow to the man's head, making him staged back with each punch.

The teen's spider sense flared and warned him if the tail conning towards the back of his head. The teen back flipped out of the way onto the antenna, right below the big neon C. "Hold Sill!" Scorpion shouted before sending a blast from his tail towards the web head.

Wait...that's it! Jason thought as he five towards the ground while the shot hit the C. The teen landed on one hand while Scorpion aimed towards him. Time seemed to slow down while the teen aimed his web shooter towards the point of electrical discharge. He pressed down on the web shooter before Scorpion could fore, sending a glob of webbing at the port.

The webbing clogged the tail as the blast fired, making the end of the tail explode, "GGGAAAAAHHHHH!" Scorpion shouted as he clutched his head. Spider-Man saw the opening and took it.

He jumped towards his foe and clicked him on the side of his face before doing the sand to the other side. "Damn... Brat!" Scorpion shouted as he threw his fist towards the costumed hero.

Spider-Man ducked backward and shot his foot into the man's chest, knocking both the air out if his lungs and him off the side of the building, "Now now, falling away from your problems never works . Trust me, I know." Jason said before covering him with webs and pulling him overhead before slamming him into the rooftop.

The teen hopped over to the man and made it so that all his limbs were spread out before webbing them to the ground before he started to regain conciseness, "Oh good. Your waking up. Have a nice nap?" Spider-Man asked as he crouched down beside him.

Scorpion struggled to free himself from the webbing but found that he had layers of it ontop of him. Mix that with the cold weather of December and he's not going anywhere. "That stuff is stronger than steel dude, your not getting out of it anytime soon." the teen stated a matter of factly.

Almost makes it worth how expensive it is. Almost. Jason thought, "Now, where does a guy with your skills come from? I'm guessing either the circus with the freak show, or maybe a underground society of animal based people." he joked.

Scorpion glared at him, "The only freak here is you." he stated.

The teen shrugged, "Not the worst thing I've been called. Like that's not even top...fifteen. It's up there though." Jason said as he thought back to all the times he got called a name by a thug or triad member.

"Look I'm getting off track. Let me try again, where's you get your gear and powers?" Spider-Man asked more demandingly. _Oh please give me a excuse to repay my ribs, please! _

Scorpion gritted his teeth, "Alright. Fine." _Damn!_ "It was Verrick. You know, the rich guy." he said, making Spider-Man's lenses narrow.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" The teen asked unbelievingly. _Come on, oldest trick in the books, frame the most wealthy guy you know_. Jason thought.

The man gave the teen a look, "What you don't believe me? Think about it. Scorpion beats Spiders. You have powers, so do I. Who could give me powers like yours?" he asked mockingly. And as much as Jason would hate to admit it, it did make sense.

Verrick has more than enough resources to get the materials needed to give Scorpion all his tricks and toys. Before the teen could ask anything else, the sound of breaking metal screeched through the air.

Jason looked up to see the neon C that Scorpion blasted fall of it's hinges and hit the rooftop, making the entire floor seem to shake before it started rolling off the rooftop!

"NO!" Jason yelled as he ran after it as it fell off the side of the rooftop.

The it streets below where crowded with police, reporters, and civilians. Jason 'a mind was going haywire, he had to stop that thing from falling and killing someone!

Meanwhile in the streets below, Shiro Shinobi sat on the sidewalk, he called his wife and reassured her that he was fine. "Spirits, what a night. How much crazier could it ge- " he stopped when he saw people start to scanner away from him. He didn't notice the shadow that was on top of him.

Jason shot two webs onto the neon light, he pulled back on the webs and shot himself through the center of the C. The teen turned in midair and sprayed the sign with webs as he fell, attaching lines to the surrounding buildings. He looked back to see the ground fast approaching.

Spider-Man slowed himself by making two lines that attached to the bulidings beside him. He landed right beside the radioshow host, much to his surprise. "Webs don't fail me now!" he exclaimed as the sign continued to fall towards him and Shiro.

This time the teen made a judge net of webbing, the C hit it and began to slow down on it's path towards the ground. Shiro sat in pure shock at the sight of the letter falling towards him. Spider-Man changed his web cartages and sprayed more webs when the C didn't stop.

The teen started leaning backward until he was at a 90 degree angle, the C stopping just before his chest and right above of Shiro's head. Jason let out a sigh of relic before falling against the pavement. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we do it downtown. Even though we're technically in midtown." he muttered to himself.

"Spider-Man! You ok?" Captain Wei yelled over as he made his way through the crowd. He slid the teen out from under the sign while Shiro was gawking at the neon light just a few inches from his head.

The costumed teen gave him a thumbs up, "Never better. Except for my ribs, spine, and maybe my head." he joked as Wei helped the vigilante off the ground.

It started out small, but slowly, the surrounding onlookers began clapping at the heroic deed they just witnessed. Wei couldn't read the young hero's expression, but his demeanor said that he didn't feel worthy of the praise, "Enjoy it kid. You earned it." he said, clasping the teen on the shoulder.

Jason had the biggest smile under his mask that no one could see.

…

Jason climbed into his apartment. He used up most, if not all, his web fluid in saving the news broadcaster who personally thanked Spider-Man repetitively. The teen was exhausted once again from a day as Spider-Man, but he felt good about that.

The teen walked into his bedroom and crashed onto the couch, not bothering to take off his costume except for his mask. He had a hundred questions as to why Verrick would make something like Scorpion but he'd ask them tomorrow. Or better yet, the day after.

Right now, he slept. Peacefully.

…

A few hundred thousand miles away from Republic City, the Future Industries excavation crew was returning from their year long trip to the swamps of the Earth Kingdom. In one of the cargo trucks contained the ancient container that they had excavated months ago.

The only word on the box, Carrion. The convoy was still months away from Republic City. But what was inside the box could wait.

It waited a over hundred years. What's the harm in a few more months?

**AN: And that was a long one if I do say so myself. Ok, so how is Verrick going to explain Scorpion to the police? Better yet, will something interrupt Jason's Christmas? And if so, what? Otto? Electro? Rhino? The Grinch? **

**Thank you all for reading the story I can't express how grateful I am. Also, I just picked up the first Spider-Verse issue yesterday. It was amazing! No wait, Superior. Ok, bad pun. **

**Anyway, thanks again for reading true believers. As always reviews are greatly appreciated, and I'll see you guys next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

Holiday cheer

_'Good morning Republic City. This is Shiro Shinobi here with you morning wake up call! As many of our regular listeners probably know, a few days ago, our own station was taken hostage by a masked criminal by the name of Scorpion. After a confrontation with the masked hero Spider-Man, he was defeated.'_ the radio chimed out, waking Jason up from his sleep.

The teen slid his pillow over his head, "I save the guy's life and he wakes me up on my week off from school. That's justice." the teen mumbled to himself. Christmas was tomorrow, and he just wanted to spend the rest of the day in bed until tomorrow morning in bed.

_'After his arrested, Scorpion fingered Verrick Industries as the men behind his powers. Even Verrick himself! But after a interview with the man himself, police released that Scorpion worked in the private sector at his business, and after being fired, stole the prototype suit and volatile compounds.' _Jason sat up and looked at the radio.

"Ok that sounds like bull." he stated as he rose from his bed. The teen got dressed in his winter wear and Spider-Man suit before heading to the kitchen for a bite to eat. "Scorpion may be a bit nutty, but he's not going to lie when there's a way for him to get out of jail early." the teen shook his head, "Never mind. I got bigger things to do today."

Jason was going to meet Tenzin and his family at the docks later today. Tenizn's mother and siblings where coming for Christmas. He had a few hours until then, "So. To-do list today. Meet up with Akiko today and secretly buy her present, fight crime, get paid by the Marvel, and meet up with the fairly I didn't know that I had. Just another normal day in my life." he said to himself.

…

Spider-Man ran along the glass windows that covered the side of the building. When he reached the end of the stretch of glass, he leapt off the side of the building. Falling through the air, the teen shot a web down towards one of the buildings below him. The masked hero swung down towards the streets below, just missing a streetlamp as he let go of the web and flew down the street.

The teen fired a line to his right, using his momentum to make a sharp turn around the building's corner before letting go and quickly attaching a web to the water tower on his left, making his swing angle take him over the top of the buildings.

The teen landed on one of the building rooftops, he hopped from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the end of the building cluster. He leapt off the ledge and shot a web towards the building ahead of him and pulling himself to the side of it, "Help! He stole my money!"

Jason turned his head down towards the street, one of the donation collecting Santa's had their bucket stolen, the thief was running across the street with the bucket in his hand. "Oh that is so wrong." Jason muttered before he jumped down towards the streets in front of the man.

The man reeled back, startled by the teen's presence, "Did you seriously, just steal from Santa!" Spider-Man asked. The man drew his hand back, gathering water from the snow around them and sending it towards the masked hero in the shape of a whip.

Jason easily ducked down underneath it and sprayed a glob of webbing at his face, "Why don't you just paint yourself green and steal presents while your at it!" he said. The teen drew his leg back and swung it forward, delivering a powerful kick to the man's jaw. The force sent him back first onto the road, he picked up the bucket of cash and walked over to the grateful man in Santa costume.

"Thank you Spider-Man." he said gratefully as the teen handed him the bucket.

The teen shrugged, "Tell you what, put him naughty list for about twenty years and we'll call it even." he said before shooting a web into the air and swinging away from the man in red and white.

_Well I guess that checks off crime fighting for today. Though I must say that guy really deserved that_. Jason thought as he flipped through the air, spinning himself like a corkscrew before making two weblines on either side of him and pulling himself further into the air.

The masked teen fired a webline to a water tower, spinning the web around it, he built up momentum before reading the webline and shooting himself over buildings and rooftops. When he saw that his destination, the dockyard where Tenzin and his family awaited his brother's ship.

The teen landed on one of the rooftops of the dockyard and begun to change into his winter wear. He and Akiko we're planning to meet up later in the shopping district. He planned on buying her present when she saw something she liked.

Jason hopped to the ground in a nearby alley and walked out onto the sidewalk, _As much as I love web swinging, walking doesn't cost me like 90 Yuans for every web or something_. he thought as he neared the docks. The docks used to be the Kingpin's turf, but since the man himself was now in jail the docks have been a low area of crime.

Jason walked along the pier with a smile. God it's been a while since I've been here as Jason O-rou. Last time I was here, me and mom were celebrating summer vacation. We got some ice cream and actually started fishing off the side. Jason thought as he remembered back.

…_Flashback…_

_"I think I'm dying. Of boredom." Jason said as he sat on the edge of the peri with one hand on the fishing pole and one hand holding his face up. Ava on the other hand was enjoying herself._

_"Don't be so negative Jason. And stay alert, any moment now a fish could take that pole out of your hands." she warned the teen. Jason chuckled at the way she put it, "What's so fun-...do not repeat that young man." she said, giving him a stern look._

_Jason nodded, "Sure thing mom. Just keep your pole steady." he said before bursting into a fit of giggles, while Ava ran a hand over her face._

_"Your this close to being pushed into the water." she said, gesturing with her fingers. Ava honestly wouldn't do it, but the tone in her voice said that she was serious._

_The teen nervously laughed, "I'll shut up."_

_"Good. Your probably scaring the fish away anyway." Ava said with a small smile._

_"Are ya sure? Because I'm sure that the fig horns and ship engines would drown my voice out." Jason said, not noticing the tug on his line._

_"Jason-"_

_"And before you say something snarky like 'Your voice is the only thing that could cover a fog horn' or something-" he started, making the woman laugh. _

_"I was gonna say you got a bite."she said, making the teen snap his head to the fish pole. _

_He grasped the pole in both hands and started reeling in the fish, "Ha! What was that you were saying about scaring the fish away? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me getting a fish!" the teen said triumphantly as Ava got the net. _

_The teen continuously reeled the line in, the fish putting up a good fight as he did. "I was thinking fish sticks for lunch, and then maybe sushi for dinner, what do you-" Jason was cut off when the fish pulled violently against the rope, the teen lost his balance, as well as his pole, and fell into the water._

_"Jason!" Ava cried out as she looked into the water for her son. Jason broke the surface of the water, making Ava let out a breath of relief before bursting out laughing. _

_Jason rolled his eyes before he started swimming towards the pier, "Just help me up." the teen said as he started climbing the pier. Ava held her hand out to her son, Jason grasped it before he fell back into the water, bringing his mother down with him._

_"Jason!" Ava exclaimed as she broke the surface, Jason was laughing his ass off at the scene. Ava grinned wickedly, "If that's his you want to play, then fine!" she said before splashing her son with water. _

_The two stayed in the water for a few minutes until the ships began docking. They both climbed up onto the Peoria and started on their way home, "Sorry about the fishing rod." Jason analogized._

_Ava smiled before putting a arm around her son's shoulder, "Forget about it. We only need one." she said as the mother and son continued on their way home._

…_Flashback End…_

Jason looked over to the spot where they fished a few months ago, smiling fondly at the memories. "Wonder if Aunt Pem would mind if I took the kids fishing?" he said aloud. The teen looked up as he heard the sound of Oogi roaring overhead. The bison really scared the crap out of Jason, scientifically speaking, something that size with that mass shouldn't be able to fly. And it mildly freaked the teen out.

Pema and the children slid down the animal's tail while Tenzin hopped down from the side, "Jason. Glad you where able to make it." he shouted over to the teen.

Jason made his way over to the family, mindful of the large animal beside him. Oogi made a small growl at the teen, "Uh...hey dude." Jason said awkwardly to the bison.

Tenzin smiled at the teen, "Don't be afraid of Oogi. He's a big softie." he said, erring the large beast to make a point. Oogi let his tongue hang out when his master's hand petted him affectionately. "Isn't that right Oogi?" the man asked like he was babying a child.

Jason looked at Pema with a blank look which she returned before turning his attention back to Tenzin, "No offense Uncle Tenzin, but I don't feel like getting close to something that could crush me with one foot. When it has six of them to begin with." he stated.

Tenzin have a stern look, "My Oogi wouldn't hurt a fly." he stated defensively.

"I don't even know what a Oogi is." Jason pointed out.

Pema put a hand over her face, "Trust me Jason. You do not want to know." she stated. Sokka once explained why Tenzin named his bison Oogi, he had caught his mom and dad kissing and yelled Oogies at the top of his lungs.

Before the Airbender could defend himself, the sound of a fog horn drew their attention away from the bison. Jason watched a as the Watertribe ship entered the bay, Jason turned to the kids, "So run this by me again. Who's coming?"

Jinora looked to her cousin, "Well there's Uncle Bumi, Auntie Kya, and Gran Gran. Gran Gran and Auntie Kya live in the South Pole and Uncle Bumi is with the United Forces." she explained easily. _Talk about a widespread family_. Jason thought.

The teen's eyes wandered around the docks as the family started towards the side of the pier. Jason stopped when he felt his Spider Sense go off, "You gotta be kidding me." Jason muttered as he looked to where it was pointing.

Near a cluster of shipping containers, five men with bandannas covering their faces walked in between the shipping containers. The teen turned to Pema, "Hey I'm gonna grab a cup of coffee, you guys want any?" he asked.

Tenzin shook his head, "No thank you Jason. We try not to have any caffeine around the kids." he said gesturing to the children.

Jason thought of the kids on caffeine and shuttered, _It would be the end of life as we know it._ Jason thought. Meelo looked up at the adults and teen with folded arms, "What are you hiding from us! Let me taste the nectar of the spirits!" he demanded.

Jason patted the boy on his head, "When your older Meelo. Or better yet, maybe if you start acting now, they'll let you take a sip." he said, making the boy think about it very briefly.

"Never!" he exclaimed, leaping into the air with Airbending. Ikki joined in along with her sister. _Well it was worth a shot_. Jason thought.

Jason walked towards the end of the docks until he was certain that he wouldn't be seen by anyone. The teen opened one of the shipping containers and stepped inside. Changing into Spider-Man was one of the things that Jason had gotten down pretty quickly, it just takes him a few seconds now.

The now costumed hero webbed his cloths to the ceiling of the container before stepping out and jumping onto the top of the containers. The teen fallowed the men's path to where he suspected they were, "So which one is it? There's gotta be like twenty of them here!"

Jason stopped at the voice and crawled from the top of the container to the side. He crawled to the end of the container he was on and looked over the edge of it, on the ground where six men, four of whom had crowbars and where trying to open the containers. "Look you'll know it when you see it. The boss said that it's part of the suit, same shipment that we broke into last week." one of the men said.

_Last week? I guess the docks aren't as quiet as I thought they were_. Jason thought before he jumped down into the center of men, "Merry Christmas! You guys wouldn't be Santa's elves would you?" he asked, startling the men.

The thugs broke out of their shock quickly and charged the costumed hero from all sides, Jason simply jumped as they closed in, running into one another. "Wow, that was embarrassing." Spider-Man taunted as he landed on the side of the shipping container.

He shot two weblines on the backs of men and pulled them towards him, Spider-Man leapt off the side as they came towards him and delivered two clothes lines to each of their faces. The men fell to the ground as the costumed hero landed on two more men's heads, "I'm sorry, but this is simply pathetic."

The men below him sparked fire in their hands before throwing fire blasts at him. Spider-Man backfliped off them as the flames roared to life, "Hey I get the roasting chestnuts bit, but you don't need to try and roast mine!" Spider-Man stated as he landed.

The two men with crowbars charged and swing their tools at the teen, Spider-Man ducked under the first swipe and grabbed the second one just before it hit his chest. The teen pulled the man in and delivered a uppercut, sending him to one of the doors of the upper containers before falling to the roof of another.

The last man came up from behind and swung the piece of metal at the hero's head. Spider-Man's Spider Sense went off in time for him to lean forward, he kept his balance with his hand and threw his foot back into the man's jaw, making him flip in the air before landing flat on the ground.

"It's times like this I wonder why they even bother. But hey, if they just stopped, I'd probably be out of a job." Jason said to himself. Suddenly, the man on the upper containers spring up and began to run, Jason could t help but laugh, "Do you know who your running from? The same guy who can go faster than a car!"

Jason leapt above the shipping containers and shot a web to the hook of a crane and swung over the yard. The teen kicked his feat out into the air before he released his grip on the web and landed on a crane operator cab. The masked teen shot a webline down to the man's leg and pulled him up towards him.

The teen grabbed the thug's jacket and tossed him into the space between cranes, weaving a large web between the to for him to stick to like a wall. Jason looked over to where the ship his family was waiting for, it was almost finished docking.

The teen turned and shot a webline to one of the cranes and headed for the container with his clothes in it. When he got back, he saw that the container was getting lifted up to one of the ships, "Oh son of a-"

Spider-Man shot a web to the side of the metal box and pulled himself up to the side of the container. He scampered across the expanse of metal and to the end of box. The teen threw open the door and crawled inside, the web was still holding his clothes thankfully.

"O-rou charm just keeps on giving doesn't it?" Jason asked in frustration as he tipped the bag open as she container rocked, spilling the clothes onto the floor, "Ohhhhhh come on!" Jason wailed in frustration. The teen grasped his pants first and slipped them on, the box jerked upwards abruptly, "You must be the WORST, crane driver in history!" he shouted at the box.

Jason shot webs at his shoes and pulled them to himself before slipping them on, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. When he grabbed his winter jacket, he jumped out of the container to the pier below, slipping his jacket on in the process.

The teen landed on the pier and saw he had been spotted. By Oogi.

The teen took his mask, gloves, and web shooters off and stuffed them in his pockets, "I won't say anything of you don't." he said to the bison as he tied his shoes. The animal gave what sounded like a growl of approval before pressing his wet nose to the teen affectionately.

Jason smiled and patted the animal's head, "Thanks Oogi...seriously though, what the hell does that mean?" he asked before heading to meet up with his extended family.

Jason caught up with his Aunt and Uncle as the ramp of the ship slid down to the pier. The teen felt his throat dry up slightly, Tenzin noticed and put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "Don't stress, they're family. And they'll treat you just like it." he said encouragingly.

Jason gave the man a smile as the people from the ship disembarked, "Uncle Bumi!" the shouted in unison as they saw their uncle go down the ramp. The three made air scooters and zoomed towards their uncle.

Jason watched as a woman behind their Uncle tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards Tenzin. She had white hair that was in bun on the back with a wolf tail. Jason guess that the woman was Kya. Jason stayed behind while Tenzin and Pema went to go greet them.

Jason watched as Tenzin embraced his brother along with his sister as Pema helped to keep the kids in check. The teen felt something nudge him forward, he turned to see the sky bison urge him forward, "Oh I get it, blackmail me to do what you want huh?" Jason joked.

Oogi simply blinked.

"Alright fine. Your unearthly glare says it all." Jason chided before heading to join the family reunion.

Bumi wrapped arm around his brother's shoulder, "So what's going on in the big city Tenzy?" Bumi asked, making the Airbender's ears burn with embarrassment of the childhood nickname.

Kya chuckled at her brothers as Katara walked down the ramp behind them, "Those two getting along as usual?" the old woman asked with a smile. Her sons loved one another but Bumi got under his brother's skin like it was nothing.

Kya smiled, "Just about." she stated.

Tenzin gave his brother a glare, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" he asked the commander.

Bumi pondered that for a moment, "Ikki?" he asked. The little girl stood at attention by her uncle and looked up at her father and Uncle.

"Two hundred and thirty five times since I was born." she said, surprising both Bumi and Tenzin with the incredible accuracy.

Jason walked up behind Pema, feeling smaller and smaller as he got closer to the three visitors. Pema noticed the teen's hesitation and put her hand on his shoulder, "Come on, two out of three of them won't bite." she said.

Jason gave his aunt a pointed look, "Thanks. That makes me feel all the more confident about all this." Jason said with deadpan in his voice.

Tenzin turned to his wife and nephew, "Bumi there's someone I want you and Kya to meet." he said, gesturing the teen come over. Jason sighed, _Might as well get this out of the way with_. Jason thought as he approached the family members.

Tenzin put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "Bumi, Kya, this is Pema's nephew, Jason." he said as the teen bowed to the two.

"Nice to meet the both of you." Jason said respectfully to the two siblings, he rose his head to see their surprised faces.

Tenzin gave the two a look before Kya spoke, "It's nice to meet you Jason." she said, abruptly pulling the teen into a hug. Jason returned it with a small smile on his face.

The woman pulled away from the teen who was rushed by Bumi, "Hooray! A new nephew!" he exclaimed, embracing the family member forcefully.

"Hey! What about me?" Meelo protested pushing his way between the commander and teenager, "I'm still here!"

Bumi bent down and gave his youngest nephew a one armed hug, "That may be true. But you know as well as I that new things are exciting. Right solider?" he asked.

Meelo threw his fists into the air, "Exciting!"

Jason stared blankly at them along with Kya, "Good god there's two of them now." he muttered, watching as the two family members gave their best war cries as they descended the ramp.

Kya let out a snort, "You should have seen him when we where kids. He was Meelo with Ikki's energy." she explained, making Jason chuckle. _Well that explains a lot._ Jason thought to himself. Kya turned the teen back and came face to face with a elderly woman, "Jason, this is our mother, Katara." she said.

Jason recognized the name almost immediately, Avatar Aang's wife. The teen bowed his head, "I-I-It's a real honor ma'am." he stuttered with genuine respect for the woman before him. _First woman to be train in waterbending in the North Pole, member of 'Team Avatar', sister of councilmen Sokka, the list kinda goes on._ Jason thought to himself.

Katara smiled kindly at the young man, "Now don't go giving me that. Your part of the family." she said as she patted the teen's shoulder. The teen looked up to the smiling woman, "No matter how distant, your still kin, as my grandmother used to say." she said wisely.

Jason smiled at the woman as the two walked down the steps to the family. Katara looked over at the teen with a analytical look, _I don't know why, but...in some way, he reminds me of Aang._ the woman thought as they walked down the docks towards Oogi.

"So Tenzy, my men have been telling me all sorts of crazy stuff has been happening in the big city. Any of it true?" Bumi asked his brother's irk at the use of the nickname.

"Yeah some traders from the city where talking about a big flying rhinobird or something nutty like that." Kya stated, making Jason smirk.

_Thank god I haven't had something as crazy like that happen. Wait ! No! Forget I thought that!_ Jason thought in a mild panic, "You guys mean Spider-Man's bad guys?" he asked, making the city guests look at him strangely.

"Who?" Kya asked.

Jason looked up to the webbed man between the cranes, "The guy who does that on a day to day basis." he said, pointing to the man in webs.

Jason smiled at the faces that Bumi and Kya made, Katara on the other hand focused on the teen himself.

…

Jason had agreed to meet the family back at Air Temple Island later that evening. The teen was now in the shopping district of Republic City, he a and Akiko decided to meet to help her shop for her family members.

Jason walked down the sidewalk towards the biggest shopping mall in the district, the teen saw the familiar sight of red and black hair. The teen smiled as he walked towards her, as he approached her , he saw that Akiko was speaking to another girl. She had black hair, green eyes , and ruby red lips with fair skin.

The girl pointed over Akiko's shoulder to the teen, Akiko turned and smiled at the boy, "Jason. Thanks for coming." she greeted as the teen walked up to her. Akiko turned to the girl, "Asami, this is Jason. Jason, this is Asami." she introduced her two friends.

Wait, why do I feel like I've met her before? Jason thought as Asami held her hand out, the teen took it and shook, "Nice to meet you Asami." he said.

Asami smiled, "Same here. I've been pestering Aki to get me to meet this guy she's been going on and on about." she said, making the girl in question face turn a had of pink.

Jason felt his heart rate climb a little at that, "Really? Anything I should know Aki?" the teen questioned, making the girl turn red with embarrassment.

"Asami, say another word and I swear to god..." she threatened, making the heiress back off on the subject. She turned to a cheekily smiling Jason, "That goes triple for you O-rou." she said, pointing a threatening finger at the teen.

Jason raised his hands in defense mockingly, "I wasn't gonna say a thing." he said, making the girl look at him sternly.

"Alight, come on you two. Let's go." she said, opening the doors to the shop and entering inside.

Jason and Asami shared a look before entering the building after their friend, "So how do you know Aki?" the teen asked as they fallowed the girl through the store.

"We have the same self defense class, she helped me get the hang of it when I first started out. You?" she explained as she remembered back to when the two girls first met one another.

Jason let out a nervous chuckle, "She gave me a bloody nose. We became best friends immediately afterwords." he said proudly, making Asami chuckle.

…

After a few hours of picking through possible gifts, Akiko had gotten her all her family members presents and the three where grabbing a bite to eat at a small restaurant. "So you basically stalk the freaks of Republic City?" Asami asked the teen while he ate his food.

The teen nodded as he ate his food before swallowing, "Yep. Just another day in the life ya know. So what about you?" he asked.

Asami glanced at Akiko with a doubtful look, she gave her friend a supporting smile, "It's ok. He's good with secrets." she said, giving Jason a knowing look.

Asami took a breath, "My last name is Sato." she said, making the teen nearly choke on his food. Thankfully, a good smack on his back made him cough it up.

"Like...the car?" he squeaked out. He honestly didn't know how to react to that, _So that's where she's from! I-or Spider-Man saved her from Vulture when he tried to drop her to her death_. Jason recalled.

Asami couldn't help but giggle at the teen's response, "Yes like the car. And a bunch of other things. I don't usually tell people because they treat me like a princess because of it." she explained, "It took me a while to tell Aki too."

Akiko smirked as she slurped on her drink, "Yeah and aren't you glad you did? In face I just introduced you to your future brain child." she said pointing to Jason.

Jason shook his head, his face still in shock, "I-I-I'm not a brain child." he sputtered out.

Akiko nudged him, "He's being modest Asami. He's smartest in science class, he blows math away, and he's memorized history." she said, making the teen blush with modesty.

"Well that last one isn't true." he piped up, making BoThe the girls roll their eyes.

"Jason if your really that good you should meet my dad. He's kinda bored out of his mind right now anyway, and he's been meaning to meet some of my friends." she said, making Jason smile.

The teen chuckled, "Well your like the quickest friend I've made. This one here didn't even tell me her name until the day after she broke my nose." he said, pointing a thump to Akiko.

The girl smirked, "Aw admit it, you thought it was mysterious like in one of those crime novellas." she stated.

"Actually it was more annoying of anything." Jason said, making Asami laugh and Akiko lightly hit his arm.

…

After saying goodbye to the polite heiress, Jason helped carry the presents to Akiko's home, "Come on, I know you can move more than that easy ." Akiko said as Jason lagged behind on propose.

The teen looked around quickly before straightening his posture and catching up to her, the boxes went above his head so he could only see if he tilted his head. "It's about appearances. Do you really think a guy my size could carry these?" he asked, jiggling the boxes.

Akiko smiled and rolled her eyes, "Well what's the odds of them ever seeing you again if you use your powers covertly?" she asked as they slowed to a stop.

Jason pondered the question for a moment, "Good point. So guess what happened to me at the docks today." he said.

"Besides the awkward meeting with your long lost relatives?"she asked with a smirk.

"How'd you know it was awkward?"

"Jason honey, everything involving you is a degree of awkward." Akiko said, patting the teen's hair. Jason gave her a look pointed look, "It's not a bad thing...it's a little cute actually." she said blushing.

Jason stopped, "You think I'm cute?" he asked, a small thread of hope in his voice.

Akiko caught the undertone somewhat, "Well...your mature really. I mean...with all the crap you've gone through in the past few months...you could be worse." she stated. "But yes. You can be cute at times." she added.

Jason thought back to the sleepless nights he had, he had nightmares of his mother burning, suffocating, and many more. Some had Pema, Tenzin, the kids...Aki. And they scared the hell out of the young hero so much that he wouldn't try to sleep for the rest of the night and instead go out on patrol.

"Yea. But I'm not as best as I can be either." Jason said, making Akiko look at him with concern. The young hero shook his head if those thoughts, "Forget I said anything. Come in, it's Christmas, let's get these presents home for ya before your folks her home." he said , picking up the pace slightly.

The two made their way to the girl's home fairly fast, Akiko opened the door to the home and let her friend inside, "Put them by the tree while get the wrapping stuff." the girl advised.

Jason placed the boxes down beside the tree in the living room of the Rupa household. The living room had a large chest in the center of the room that doubled as a table, it was surrounded by chairs and a couch that all pointed towards the radio against the wall.

The tree was decorated in the corner of the room with a star on the top of it, "And I don't even have a sticking at home." the teen muttered.

Akiko entered the room minus her coat a minute later with wrapping paper, tape, and of course, scissors. "Thanks for this Jason." the girl said gratefully as she sat down and drew one of the boxes close.

Jason sat down beside her and unrolled the paper, "No problem. I got time to burn until I head over to my aunt's house." he said as they started to wrap presents.

…

Akiko and Jason spent about two hours wrapping presents for the girl's family. "Ok. There we go. Thank god." Akiko said as she laid down on the floor after putting the last bow on the present.

Jason looked down at the girl, "Your really tired from just doing that?" he questioned skeptically.

"I've had a long day Jason." she said with a joking smile.

The teen shrugged nonchalantly before lying down beside her, "That makes two of us then. Too bad I can't fall asleep." he said, covering his eyes with his forearm. It wasn't the fact that he had a low crime rate today, he was actually happy for that, but it was more that he was just tired from his lack of sleep overall.

"Yeah , stinks for you." Akiko said with a grin. She was more bored if anything today, Jason just seemed to brighten her day up if anything, coupled with the fact that she'd been seeing less of him than usual lately made her guess one thing. Jason had been pushing himself more and more lately. "Hey...do you hate being Spider-Man?"

Jason sat up and looked at her strangely, "What? Where's this conning from?" he asked.

The girl sat up beside him, "Well it's just that...sometimes I try and imagine what I'd do if I had your powers." she started.

"I'd hope that you'd do good." Jason interrupted.

The girl nodded, "Yeah, I would. But I mean...how do you deal with it all? Your late to school half the time, you need to work to pay your bills, you need to do homework...on second thought never mind that one. But above all, every time there's a emergency you gotta go deal with it." she listed off. "How do you not...just crumble under it all?"

Jason honestly had no idea, _If I had to guess, I think it's Peter. He is the original Spider-Man, and he didn't look miserable, he didn't look like hell just walked over him and stomped him into the dirt. He looked like he was...ready for whatever came next. _Jason thought to himself.

"Well...to be honest, your a big help with that." he said, making Akiko give him a confused look, "When I first started doing this, I was alone. I didn't have anyone to talk to about all this, and now with you...it's a lot more raised to deal with." he said honestly, sending her a smile. Just having someone to confide in just helped make the whole thing easier.

Akiko felt heat rise to her cheeks, "Jason..." she spoke, a shy smile on her lips.

The teen shook his head, "Ok, enough sad talk...tell ya what. You can open my present early." he said, reaching behind her Christmas tree to the girl's surprise. The box was thin but long, making what could be in the box more mysterious.

"Your pres-when did you have the time to get it?" she asked as Jason gave her the wrapped present. "And how'd you wrap it without me seeing it?"

Jason smiled, "I'm actually proud of that. I got this yesterday, hid it on the rooftop if the store until we left, got away from you and Asami, and his this with the other presents." he explained. He thought the plan through a few times.

Akiko stared at him blankly, "What where you saying about not being a brain child again?"

"Just open it before I stick it to the inside of your chimney." Jason said, making the girl start to rip her present apart.

The girl let out a gasp at the present. It was a painting canvas is with a pallet and assorted brushes with ten sheets of painting paper. "I didn't know of you had one but I figured a artist isn't a real artist without one of them so...yeah." Jason said as she looked over her new present.

He was almost tackled when Akiko her arms wrapped around him and squeezed, "Jason your...your frickin amazing!" she said as Jason returned the hug with a grateful smile. The teen retuned the embrace by wrapping his arms around her waist.

Akiko smiled sweetly against his shoulder until she pulled away, "I-oh god Jason. I'm so sorry but-"

The teen smiled with a shrug, "Aki, you put up with my bitching about being a superhero. That's more than I could ever ask for." he said truthfully. The both of them blushed at Jason's words, he did saying it, and Akiko for the kindness if it.

"That's...sweet of you Jason..." Akiko said, trying not to look him in the eyes.

Before the teen could respond, the sound of the clock chiming on the wall broke them out of their daze, it was 7:00. Jason had to be at the island in a hour give or take. "I gotta go." the teen stated.

Akiko stood and brushed the tape from her pants, "Of course. A loving family member's work is never done."she said understandingly as they made their way to the door.

"I was going for superhero but I'll go with that." The teen replied as he leaned against the door to the home.

Akiko rolled her eyes at the boy, "Least I'm not calling you anything mean like the council." she supplied.

"Yeah good point." Jason said with a nod. The teen saw Akiko's eyes drift upward and widen slightly. The teen fallowed her sight to the ceiling, "Oh..." he squeaked out.

It was a Mistletoe.

Jason and Akiko blushed deep shades of red, the girl swallowed, "Well..." she muttered, loud enough for Jason to hear her.

"S-S-Sorry." The teen sputtered out. _God I wish I could just run invisible right now._ The teen thought to himself. He was sure his heart was making so much noise in his chest that he was thinking that Akiko could hear it hammering on.

Akiko took a small step towards the teen, only enough so that it seemed her foot slid across the floor, "It...it's ok." Akiko said quietly. Akiko and Jason where almost the same height now, her eyes locked with Jason's.

_I...I shouldn't_. Jason inwardly thought as his body moved itself closer to her's. Akiko rose her hand to the side of his face, Jason's hand found it's way around her waist. "I...should..." Jason started but he lost his voice when he felt his neck bend forward.

Akiko's eyes closed as she parted her lips, Jason leaned his head forward as he too closed his eyes.

Their lips where so close to each other, they could feel each other getting closer to each other, Jason especially because of his extra senses. Akiko felt her blush start to recede along with Jason, it didn't feel embarrassing anymore.

It felt...right.

Jason's lips didn't so much as grace her skin when the teen stopped himself, _What the hell am I doing!? _Akiko felt his body go ridged and opened her blue eyes, "Jason?" The girl questioned.

The teen gave her a apologetic look, "I-I-I'm sorry." he said before he flung the door open and put his web shooter on.

"Jason Wait!" Akiko called as the teen leapt to the side of the building and bounced off the wall before shooting a web to the building ahead of him and swinging to the rooftop of a building and running away.

Akiko stood in the doorway with a deco stated look on her face, "Jason..."

…

Jason was partially in his Spider-Man outfit minus the mask and gloves on the ledge of a skyscraper, pacing forward and backward with his head in his hands. "What the hell was I thinking! Bobo I can't get invoked with Aki like that." he said to his stone companion.

The gargoyle's silence just added to the teen's frustration, "I mean...screw it. I love Akiko. I'll tell frolic the rooftops! Although I guess I kinda just did...but I can't get close to her Bobo." he said to the statue.

The teen sighed as he sat down beside the gargoyle, "I don't know what to do. When I get a problem I usually talk to Akiko...but that's when I got a superhero problem. But this is a Jason O-rou problem, I'll talk to Pema." Jason said, standing up and slipping his gloves and mask on.

"Thanks Bobo. You always know just what to say." he said to the statue. I may need a therapist. Jason thought before jumping off the skyscraper and down towards the streets below.

…

The teen walked the path towards the main house of Air Temple Island, most of the acolytes had taken temporary leave from the temple to visit family for the holiday.

Jason knocked on the door to the home, a moment later, Katara opened the door with a welcoming smile, "Jason. Glad you could make it, come on in." she said, making the teen smile.

"Thanks m-Katara." the teen said gratefully. The woman moved to the side and let the teen pas through the door, the living room of the home was decorated with all manner of Christmas decorations. "Wow. Let me guess, the kids helped decorate?" he asked.

Katara smiled at the teen, "Raising two energetic kids for all those years taught me that the best way to tore them out is giving them task after task to do. And to make it seem fun." she explained as they walked through the living room towards the kitchen.

Jason noticed that the home was nearly silent, save for the sounds coming from the kitchen, the oven was baking a cake along with the stove was boiling water, "Where is everyone? I gotta admit, I thought that this place was going to be like a madhouse." he said honestly.

Katara chuckled at that, "You should have seen the place when I lived here. Tenzin and Pema took everyone out to see the city on Oogi. I wanted to get started on dinner." she explained. Jason's face fell a tad, "What's the matter Jason?" Katara asked, noticing the look in his eyes.

The teen put his hands on the countertop and sighed, " It's nothing Katara. Just...problems." he said.

The old woman gave him a smile and pulled a stool out on the other side of the counter, "Well what is it then? You look like you just doomed one of the four nations." she said, making the teen smirk.

"I wouldn't want to make you listen to my problems Katara." he said, he liked Katara, but he didn't want to unload his problems onto a nice lady like her.

Katara waved her hand, "Oh don't start with that. I listen to my star pupil talk about her frustrations just as I did with my children. Now come on, talk." she said, gesturing the teen to a seat.

_Well it's better than having no one to talk to_. Jason thought as he pulled a stool out. "Well...believe it or not reports aren't the most safe lifestyle.."

"Jason. I don't need to be a earth bender to know that's not the truth." Katara stated with a small smile. _Wait...she couldn't possibly...nah_. Jason thought, "You write stories for the Marvel, a place were every story of the city goes through. And you write about a masked man who you personally know?" she asked.

Jason's eyes went wide as dinner plates, "How did you-"

"You talked about it with Ikki in the room. What did you expect?" Katara asked, making the teenager shrug. The woman smiled, "So what's the problem Spider-Man?" she asked.

Jason's eyes darted around to make sure nobody overhead, "Katara, you can't tell anyone. I can't begin to start on how crucial that is." he stated, making the elder woman nod.

"Don't worry. I still have secrets that even Aang didn't know." she said, making the teen let out a sigh of relief.

Jason told her the entire story of how he became Spider-Man, not leaving any details out. The waterbending master listened to the teen's story intently, sinking the information in. "And Aki and I...ahem. Nearly...kissed." he said awkwardly, making the old woman smile.

"And your scared that because of the cross you chooses to bear that she'll be harmed?" she asked, making the teen nod. Katara put a hand over the teen's on the counter. "How would you feel if I told you that I was in a similar position?" she asked, making the teen look at her strangely.

"Back during the war, Aang confessed his feelings to me. But I knew that Aang needed to focus on saving the world so I pushed him away. It hurt, but it was needed at the time." she explained to the teen. She let out a sigh, "Even after the war we had our troubles, people who wanted to hurt the avatar tired to harm me. Aang told me that he actually considered breaking us apart to make sure I was safe." she said sadly.

Jason gave her a look of sympathy, "He didn't though. But then again, Avatar Aang didn't need to deal with men in scorpion suits with razor sharp tails." he stated.

Katara nodded, "True. But Aang loved me enough to let me make my own choice in the matter. I was happy with Aang for a long time and if I could do it again I would. Including all the danger that came with it." she said.

The teen hadn't considered if Aki would want to be in a relationship with him that badly. He assumed that it would be better is she was safe, but then again he does dangerous stuff on a regular basis so he can't really talk.

"So the best thing isn't the most safe thing?" Jason surmised .

Katara smiled, "Pretty much. That's how me and Aang lived." she said.

Jason still had a lot on his mind, but now it felt much more lighter now that he spoke with Katara, "By the way. How'd you connect the dots with me and Spidy?" he questioned.

The woman smiled, "Let me tell you a story about a town on the fire nation that I helped during the war."

…

The next morning, Jason felt handle being jumped on by a small mass of a hyperactive child, "WAKE UP! SANTA WAS HERE!" Meelo yelled into the teen's ear. Jason slowly rose from the bed with bags under his eyes.

He had a white tee shirt and stripped PJ's on, his bed head showed that he tossed and turned for most of the night on the island. Tenzin and Pema had more than enough room to accommodate the teen, so they invited him to stay the night.

_I seriously need to rethink why I did this in the first place_. The teen thought as he fallowed the boy towards the living room with the tree and presents. Jason smiled at the sight of the children at the base if the tree with their hands on presents. The adults where sitting down with smiled on their faces with PJ's and robes covering their bodies for the morning.

Pema smiled at her nephew, "Come on Jason, we can't start without you." she said, making the teen smile.

Jason waked across the room and crouched besides the kids, "Merry Christmas guys." he said, giving each of the kids a hug which they returned.

The teen looked around at the people around him. At his family_. It's bigger than it was a few months ago...and I still miss mom...but right now? Now I'm going to enjoy the family I have now instead of the family I had. _

**AN: And yes, Bobo will return in a later chapter before anyone asks. I'm sorry it's taken so long to post this chapter, Im FINALLY getting my temps and I've been focusing on getting them lately.**

**School starts for me next week, senior year thank god, so I'll post this at a slower rate.**

**And with gamescom on right now I'm all over the internet liking for all the MGSV news I can find!**

**Thank you all for reading this chapter, I put a lot of work on this one and I'm proud of that so I hope you all like it. As always I encourage you all to leave a review, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

New Years Rumble

Jason slid the door to his room on Air Temple Island closed. The teen had spent the past few days on the island since the rest of the Airbending family came to the island and the teen was getting to know them better each day.

That and he was sure Akiko was waiting for him to get home. Jason hadn't even attempted to call the Rupa household, let alone go anywhere near it. _I'll deal with eventually...probably not anytime soon but eventually_. The teen thought.

The room Jason had been using was just like the ones in the dormitories, simple, old timely, and not decorated at all. "Guess they take the whole 'no personalities' thing real seriously." Jason muttered as he crouched down in front of his bed.

He lifted his mattress up, revealing his costume and web shooters, he figured the best place to hide his costume in a home with hyperactive Airbending children would be the place they wouldn't look unless they where searching for something.

After slipping his costume on under his civilian clothes, he exited the room and headed for the exit to the main household. Jason stepped out to the snow covered ground of the island, "I swear it gets colder every year here." Jason muttered as he walked towards the docks.

The teen descended the steps of the island, when he reached the fork in the path, his Spider Sense went off lightly, "Wha-" he started before a snowball hit the side of his face. The teen turned to the sound of the kids laughter in the trees, "Oh you three are lucky I need to be somewhere!" he called out with a smile.

The teen wiped the snow from the side of his face before heading to the dock of the island. Just before the teen went down the last set of stairs, he horned to the woods, "I shall be avenged!" he called out into the forest and retracting down the stoats before three snowballs flew towards him.

…

After getting to the mainland, Jason quickly found a secluded place between buildings to change in and put his clothes in a web backpack. _Ok, time for work_. Jason thought as he began to crawl the side of the building, when he got up high enough, he jumped off the side of the building.

The teen shot a webline to the side of a building and swung over the streets of the city towards the Daily Marvel. The teen swung overhead just as a pair of cop cars chased after a large transport truck, "Looks like the crap's hitting the fan earlier than usual today." Jason said to himself as he attached a web to the edge of a building right before fe went past, making him take a hard turn before he released the webline.

The teen fired two webs on either building on his sides and pulled back on them, shooting himself past the police cars behind the van. The teen fired a web to the building ahead of him and barely grazed the ground as the back of the truck opened.

Two men emerged from the darkness of the container, each wore a helmet with a red circle on the forehead with glowing green eyes. Each of them had a pair of bolas with them that where swing at high speed, they threw them towards the teen as he dipped down towards the street.

Spider-Man pulled up on his webline, making the bolases miss him, "Hey I'm swinging here!" he yelled as he kicked his feet out and let go of the webline. The teen landed ontop of the cargo container, sticking to the roof with his adhesive powers. The teen turned back at the sound of someone else landing on the roof, the men from inside the container had climbed onto the roof.

"Well you guys are dedicated." Jason stated as the two charge forward towards the teen. Spider-Man drew a fist back as one of the men came in close, the teen threw his fist forward as the man neared. The masked thug ducked under the blow and sent a collection of quick jabs to Spider-Man's chest.

Jason felt like his torso lost all it's power and hunched over, "How did you-" Spider-Man started before he blocked a sidewinder kick with his forearm, the teen grasped the leg and spun him around before sending him towards the other masked thug.

His friend ducked under the man as he landed near the rear of the container. This time Spider-Mam went on the offensive , he charged towards the man and swung his leg towards his head, the masked thug ducked under it and tried to replicate what his companion did but Spider-Man knocked the first punch away with his hand and sprayed a glob of webbing onto the mask he wore, blinding him long enough for Spider-Man to attach two weblines on the buildings on either side if him and sticking them to the man.

The man flew off the truck and into the air between buildings, "You know I just love doing that." Jason said happily. The second thug regained his footing and charged towards the webhead.

Spider-Man jumped into the air and tucked his leg behind him as the thug got near. The teen threw his fist to the man's head but was caught by the thug, Spider-Man landed on one foot and threw his leg out to the man's left side, sending him flying off the roof of the container and to the side of a building before falling to the street unconscious.

"Whoever these guys are, they're not the usual suspects. They're trained." Spider-Man said to himself as he ran towards the cab of the truck and jumped onto the hood. The driver of the cab was dressed just like the other two, he switched to the right of the road onto the sidewalk and grinding the truck against the sides of buildings.

"You know usually when people get something on their window they use the window wipers and don't freak out." Spider-Man stated as he covered the glass with webbing. The teen forcefully gripped the hood of the truck and ripped it off the vehicle, the teen aimed his web shooters of the engine's pistons and sprayed.

Spider-Man leapt ahead of the car and shot webs at the wheels of the vehicle, slowing the truck to a halt on the sidewalk. Spider-Man approached the side of the cab and ripped the door opened and grabbed the driver's collar, "Let me guess, your with pest control? Because if not, you need to rethink your outfits."

The man tried to break free of the teen's grasp to no avail, "I'm part of the Equalist movement! And I am proud of it!" he stated firmly. Jason's eyes widened under his mask, _Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they supposed to be the peaceful type?_ the teen thought to himself.

"Spider-Man! Put the man down and freeze!" The teen turned to see five metealbending officers ready to attack.

"No wait! He's-" the teen started.

"Take him down!" The lead officer shouted before stomping his foot to the ground, making a block of earth rise, and firing it at the teen while the other men launched their cables.

"Damnit!" Spider-Man swore as he leapt into the air and threw the man towards the cables, stopping them from hitting him and giving him time to land on the side if a building and run up the wall to the rooftop. The teen sprinted across the roof to the ledge before leaping off the building and shooting a web to the one in front of him.

"Just my luck that the police try to take me down." Spider-Man said aloud as he passed a water tower. "Ok maybe I should be focusing on the fact that those guys I just stopped where Amon's." he added.

The young hero released his webline as he swung towards the sky, shooting himself into the air. He fired a web towards a flagpole below him and used it as a pendulum to slung-shot himself past buildings. "Well it wouldn't be the first time peaceful protests turned violent. Anyways those guys where probably just rouge like the last guys behind the cause I put away."

The masked teen sprayed a web to the side of a radio tower and swung around the metal tower and released his web, sending him into the plaza that the Daily Marvel occupied. The teen landed in a alleyway on the other side if the plaza, the teen ripped opened the web backpack and got dressed behind a dumpster.

A few seconds later, Jason emerged from the alley and put his gloves into his pocket. "Maybe Whitney knows about the Equalists. It's gotta be on her radar." the teen said to himself as he crossed the street towards a small coffee stand. "Meaning in going to have to bribe her."

The teen ordered two things of coffee for him and Whitney before he made his way towards his place of work.

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can." Jason stopped at the tune and looked to a man playing in a bench with a guitar, strumming away at the cords. "Spins a web, any size. Catches thieves, just like flies look out, here comes the Spider-Man." he sung.

Jason chuckled as the man sang, "Now that just makes it all worth it." he joked with a smile as a man walked by and threw some money in the guitar case. Jason looked down at his drink and sighed, "I am too nice." he mumbled.

The man finished his song and collected the money, he grabbed his instrument and put it back in it's case. When the man stood, he turned and saw a thing of coffee hanging by what looked like webs. The man smiled, "Guess he likes it." the man said as he took the coffee from the weak webs.

Jason smiled as he walked towards the Daily Marvel with Whitney's coffee in hand. Jason entered the elevator and pressed the top floor button, "Hold the door!" the teen held the door open as Whitney came into the small space.

"Just the person I was looking for." Jason said with a smirk as the woman caught her breath. "You look like you ran a marathon." the teen stated as he handed his friend/mentor the cup of coffee.

Whitney gladly took the drink and drank it down, "I just got back last night from visiting family. So how's things around here?" she asked as she leaned against the wall of the small raising room.

Jason folded his arms across his chest, "Well I was wondering what you knew about a group calling themselves the Equalists." he said.

Whitney took a sip of her drink before answering, "I know that they're anti-bending extremists. They keep saying that we're being oppressed by the benders of the world." she said, making the teen scoff. Whitney raised a eye at the teen, "Why? Something happen?" she asked.

"They just tried to steal a cargo truck full of...well I don't know, but I know what I saw. And I saw pice chasing their truck that they hijacked." Jason explained as the door opened.

"Holy shit! Did the police get them?" she asked in surprised as they walked across the floor. Not many people where in the Marvel this week except for the people who made their day to day money there. Which included Jason and Whitney.

"Spider-Man did. Which the police tried to arrest him for." he said with annoyance in his voice. He hated that after all that he's done, the police doesn't like what he did.

Whitney patted the teen's shoulder, "They'll warm up to the guy in time. I mean half the city has anyway, just a matter of time." she said. "God I wish I could just interview Amon to get his side of this." she said as the two sat at their desks.

_Lying little cockroach_. Jason thought as he remembered the boy who nearly jumped off a building to escape from his tormentors. "Guy like that should be thrown away for good." Jason said as he cracked his neck.

Whitney gave the teen a look, "Where's the hostility coming from?" she asked.

Jason sighed, "My friends are benders. My family are benders. And if Amon is doing the same thing that Ozai tired to do, I don't ever want him out of a cell." Jason said coldly. Jason had three weaknesses, his family, Akiko, and children. And Amon was a threat to all three, _But to be fair he's about as much threat as Tarrlock is to Jason O-rou_.

Whitney gave the teen a look, "Look, be honest with yourself, if you where kicked around by benders all your life, wouldn't you hate them?" she asked.

Jason did at one point fear benders, but Xang and Akiko changed that ideal of his, but hate and fear are two completely different things. "If that where the case yea...that would mean I wouldn't even have spoken to Akiko when I first met her." he said, not realizing he was thinking out loud.

Whitney gave the teen a sinister smirk, "Ooooh, forget about Amon. Tell me more about what's been happening on the romance front." she said, making the teen's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

"Whitney. Everyone knows that your a gossip." he stated.

The reporter rolled her eyes, "Come on. I come back from like a week off work and this is what I hear you say? What if it where me about a guy?" she asked.

Jason thought it over for a moment, _Well it's not like I'm asking for dating advice thank god_. he thought to himself, "Fine." he said in defeat. Whitney gestured him to go on, making the teen's cheeks turn more red for being put in the spotlight.

"I...we almost kissed each other." he said in almost a whisper. Whitney nearly fell out of her chair.

"What! Jason last time I checked that's a damn good thing!" she said before noticing the teen's depressed face, "Sp why do you look like you lost the Pro Bending championship?" she asked with concern as she calmed down.

Jason put his arms over the desk fallowed by his head, "Almost. I...I can't be with her is all." he said sadly.

Whitney got the most angriest look on her face, "Now who the hell do they think they are telling you that?" she asked with a threatening tone in her voice.

Jason visibly gulped, "Uh...that would be me." he said quietly, partially scared of the angry Whitney Chang.

The woman gave the young hero a strange look, "What? Jason what in the world makes you think that?" she asked, leaning towards the teen.

Jason sighed, "It's just...I'm not reliable Whitney. I need to go off and go report something or find something to report on each day. It's not fair to her." he lied.

Whitney let out a sigh, "I swear it's like talking to a wall with you Jason. Look, you like her, and she must like you if she didn't push you away. Just be happy with yourself." she said as she earned back in her chair.

_If life where only that easy_. Jason thought before getting to work on his story of the truck hijacking.

…

Electro was content, he got a 'early release' from the Vault and was enjoying his freedom in his old apartment. The man had planed on doing a few heists then getting out of Republic City for good. There was only one problem with that plan.

And it was Spider-Man.

"Damn bug isn't gonna short me out like last time." he said as he crackled electricity in his hand as he sat on his bed. Spider-Man would stop whatever heist he would try to pull. So his only shot was to pick the playing field.

"So it can't be near the bay. And it's gotta be somewhere that would have the least amount of water." the man said to himself as he stood and looked out the window of his home.

The man smirked once he got his idea, "Alright bug. Let's see if a bug zapper works on spiders." he said as he made his way to the door of his home.

…

"So he just bolted? Just like that?" Asami asked unbelievingly. Akiko had just finished explaining to her friend the events of what happened between her and Jason a few days ago.

The two where currently sparing with each other at their dojo, Asami hand noticed that Akiko had seemed off. She wasn't expecting to hear that Jason and her where about get together.

Asami threw a jab which Akiko pushed away with her palm, "Aren't you mad? I mean usually people are mad in this situation." she stated as Akiko swung her leg right into Asami's forearm.

The girl sighed, "I'm not mad. Jason...he has attachment issues." she said before blocking another one of Asami's attacks.

The girl stopped and raised a eye, "What do you mean by that?" she asked curiously. She only met Jason once so far and he seemed like a nice enough guy from what Akiko told her about him.

Akiko and her friend walked towards one of the benches, "His mom...passed. And he feels responsible for it, and he's...afraid to get close to anyone because of it." she explained. She couldn't go around saying it was Jason's fault that his mother passed because it wasn't her job to say. That was something that Jason had to tell people.

Asami's face grew solemn, she knew personally what losing a mother was like, the only difference was that Jason was on his own. Except for Akiko, "As a person that's been there, my advice is to get him out of that mindset." she stated. "If he just keeps thinking like that, he'll be alone forever. So do something to snap him out of that. You'll be doing him a huge favor. Trust me." she said.

Akiko smiled a tad, "Thanks. So any suggestions on how to do that?" she asked.

Asami shrugged, "No idea." she said, making Akiko's head drop.

"Wow. Your so wise Asami." she stated sarcastically.

…

"Electrical parts?" Jason asked in disbelief.

Stan nodded, he had just finished reading over the article that Jason had typed, the only problem was that Jason didn't have a clue what they tried to steal. "I just got off the phone from a old friend of mine at the police station. Told me it was electrical parts." he explained.

Jason scratched his head, "What do ya think? Trying to make communications equipment?" the teen asked. He was able to make his spider tracers and he was in high school, what's stopping a brainiac with the wrong group of people?

Stab shook his head, "That's the thing. No antenna, no receivers, nothing like that. So we got no idea what they where planning on doing." he surmised.

_Great, just great. Just how I like it, absolutely no idea of what I'm getting into._ The teen thought as Stan's office phone rang. The man picked up the phone, "Daily Marvel, Stan Lee speaking." he said. Jason couldn't hear the other line but the way Stan's eyes widened told him something was going on.

"Ok. Thanks." he said before hanging up the phone and turning to Jason, "You need to get over to the power plant. Electro is back and he's making a big homecoming." he said, making the teen's eyes widen.

"I'm on it." Jason said as he exited the man's office and headed for the janitor's closet. Jason checked to make sure that no one was around before slipping into the closet. He changed out of his street clothes and into his Spider-Man suit, he collected his clothes into a web sack and opened the small window of the room.

Jason crawled the side of the building and put the sack in between some air vents. The teen sprinted towards the ledge of the building and shot a webline to the wall of the Marvel below. _Ok, Electro alone is bad. But what I'm assuming is super charged Electro is ten times worse! _Jason thought.

The teen released the web as he went upwards into the air, the teen backflipped in midair before firing a web to a building's corner and swinging around the structure. _Ok, I'm probably swinging right into a trap right now, why else would it be a power plant? _Jason wondered as he continued towards the power plant.

…

The teen attached two weblines to the smokestacks and pulled back on them, avoiding the power lines that lead to the rest of the city. Jason swung past the towers and onto the rooftop of the plant. The midday sun overhead, Jason didn't waste any time looking for a way in.

The masked teen crawled down the side of the building and entered the building through a open window. "Hello? Sparky? Where are yo-" Jason started before his Spider Sense went off.

The teen jumped from the window down to the floor as a electric blast blew the window and surrounding wall away. _Well ask a stupid question._ Jason thought as he cartwheeled out of the way of another electric strike.

The teen looked up to the catwalk to see Electro floating above it, a harness strapped over his chest and the cords connecting to the generators, "See I knew this was gonna happen. I thought, 'Spidy, he's gonna be charged up like a toy on d-cells.' and I came here anyway." he said as he shot a web to the ceiling.

The teen swung away from another blast of electricity, "That doesn't even come close to how powerful I am now!" Electro boasted as he flew after after teen. Spider-Man released his webline as another bolt went through the air towards the teen, Spider-Man dropped below the catwalk and shot a web under it, swinging himself onto the railing.

"Man sparky you lost your touch." Spider-Man said mockingly.

Electro grinned before he slammed hard onto the catwalk, sending a electrical current throughout the metal. The electricity knocked the costumed hero off the railings and to the floor below.

Jason let out a cry of pain at the feeling of static going throughout his body. "Aw what's the matter? Spider doesn't like bug zappers?" Electro mocked as he flew down to the floor as Spider-Man got back up.

"Trust me, the only thing that's killing anyone is your fashion sense." Spider-Man cracked, making electro send bolt after bolt of electricity at the wall crawler. The teen jumped to the wall and then into the air and pelted the man with webbing.

Electro covered his face as the sticky substance came into contact with him. The man melted the substance away and took his arms away from his face, "Where are you?" he asked as he looked around.

Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling above and kicked both his legs into Electro's head, sending him through the air and into the ground. _I get it, he's got to expect me to hit him if he wants his little joy buzzer trick to work_. The teen surmised.

Spider-Man was knocked off the man when a plies of electricity emitted from the man, Electro stood up from the floor, "Ok, no more playing around!" he shouted, his eyes turing yellow and electricity starting to surround him. The harness on electro seemed to glow as he charged up.

The generators in the room started to charge up, sparks flew from the tips where lightning was shot into the machines. The masked hero's Spider Sense was pounding against so hard it was starting to physically hurt, "I guess that Sparky isn't gonna cut it for ya now." Spider-Man said as he rubbed his head and sat up straight.

The teen fried two webs to the ceiling and pulled. It wasn't fast enough.

Electro sent a blast towards Spider-Man that hit him dead on and sent him through the air towards the wall. Instead of just denying it, he crashed right through it!

Electro flew to the hole in the wall and looked in, the rubble from the blast piled on the ground outside the power plant. The man looked around, no webs, no red and black blurs, nothing. Electro smiled widely, "Yes! He's dead! I did it! I killed the Spider-Man!" he shouted in triumph.

Electro undid the harness, it fell to the ground with a thud, "Time for a night on the town! Staring with a little jewelry shopping." he said with a grin. The man flew through the air towards the city, leaving the power plant behind.

…

Jason felt like he had just lost a fight with a train. The teen tried to move but found something ontop of him, "Of course. Why not?" the teen muttered. Jason took a breath and started to rise, the rubble from the wall shifting as he rose up from the ground. The teen shoved a piece of debris off him, finally letting him see the sky.

It was night. "What the hell happened to noon!" Jason exclaimed as he stood, he immediately regretted it. Soreness spread all throughout his body, his costume was shredded immensely.

He had a entire section was missing from his right side where the bolt hit where his flesh was burned to the body of the spider symbol on his chest. His knees where missing cloth as well, so was his left shoulder and back where the red spider was. He was missing a entire glove as well on his right hand, though his web shooter looked undamaged.

One of his lens was also cracked, "Man how long was I out?" the teen wondered as he scaled the side of the power plant. "Well own thing is for sure, I gotta think of a way to power down Electro, he is way too powerful now." Jason said as he climbed to the top of the building.

Jason pressed down on his gauntlet, activating his police scanner, '-we're in pursuit of Electro right now central! We're keeping our distance until the airship gets here, it looks like he's heading to Harmony Tower! Get all units there!' the radio rang out.

"Airship eh?" Jason wondered aloud. The teen looked up to the sky and saw the massive airship with the Republic City police emblem on the side of it. "Guess that's my ride." Spider-Man muttered, the teen ran to the side of the building and shot weblines to the smokestacks and used them to shoot himself up to the airship.

Jason shot a webline to the side of the airship and pulled himself to the side of it. "Might as well enjoy the ride." Jason muttered as he climbed to the top of the ship and rested. The teen let out a sigh as he laid on the top of the airship, _Ok so Electro is probably still pretty charged up so I can't let him hit me. So how do I beat him?_ the teen thought to himself.

The teen sat up at the sound of sirens down below the blimp. "Please put your trays in the upright position as I do something extremely dangerous and life threatening." Jason said to himself before leaping off the side of the airship.

The teen tucked his arms to his sides as he fell down towards the streets below. The streets where flooded with police cars as they cased after Electro. He flew down the street at speeds that the police couldn't match, the street lamps that he past burst with electricity.

Jason fired a web to a flagpole below and used it as a pendulum, and sent the teen hurling down the street and ahead of the police cars. He attached a webline to the building ahead of him, releasing when he dipped up into the air.

"Hey man, watts up?" Spider-Man asked as he kicked the man into the wall of a building with his outstretched legs. "Get it? Watts instead of...never mind you get it." the teen said, landing on a wall opposite of Electro.

The man stood with yellow eyes once more, "Your supposed to be dead! What the hell are you a cockroach!"

"No. I'm a spider. Does the thing on my chest not hint at that?" The masked hero asked cheekily, Electro swiped his hand horizontally, making a arch of electricity fly towards the masked teen.

Spider-Man jumped from the wall into the air, missing the attack. Electro sent a bolt to the airborne hero which hit home and sent the teen onto the rooftops. The masked hero rolled out of the way of Electro zapping the ground whee he was at. Jason shot a web at a air conditioning unit and pulled it from it's place before throwing it at Electro.

The man blasted the ac unit to pieces, Spider-Man sprang through the smoke of what was his makeshift projectile and delivered a punch to Electro. The man fell only a few feet before recovering and sending a blast towards the wall crawler.

Jason fired a web to the side if a building and zipped away while the blast charred a wall. The teen hopped off the side of the building and shot a webline down the street, "Come get me lighting bug!" he taunted, making Electro give chase.

The man flew after the costumed teen, firing blasts of electricity, thankfully Jason's Spider Senses where able to warm him which way they came from.

The man fired a bolt at Spider-Man, he looked back and and turned his body horizontally in the air, shooting a glob of webbing back at the man.

The masked hero shot a web to the corner of a building and pulled himself towards it as a lighting bolt went through the air. He swung around the building's corner before releasing the web and shooting another one down the street.

Harmony Tower stood in the distance, and like moths to a flame the two where heading for it.

…

Akiko was tired, she had spent all day trying to find Jason and came up with squat. She was currently using the canvas and paints to trying and not to worry, which was hard considering that Jason was the person who bought her the canvas set.

Akiko let out a sigh before putting the paintbrush down and going over to her bed and falling onto it, "I swear I'm going to kill him when I see him for making me worry." she said into her pillow.

_I checked his home, called Pema but she said she hasn't seen him since this morning. And people haven't seen Spider-Man around the city today. God where are you Jason?_ she thought to herself.

The knock at her door jarred her from her thoughts, "It's open." she muffled out through the pillow. Keito opened the door to see his little sister face down on her pillow.

"Uhh...what's up?" he asked.

Akiko looked up from her pillow with a bored look on her face, "Nothing. What's up with you?" she asked in a bored tone. _God it's tiring trying to find a superhero. Imagine how the police feel by now. _she thought with a tiny smirk.

Keito grinned, "Come listen to the radio, Spidy's fighting Electro all over the city apparently." he said, making Akiko spring up and Keito laugh, "God try not to hide that crush you have on a superhero why do-Ow!" he exclaimed when his sister slugged his shoulder, hard.

Akiko nearly jumped down the stairs to try and get to the radio. She found her mother and father sitting in the living room looking at the radio with anticipation and interest. Akiko took a seat closet to the radio as the news broadcast came on.

_'If your just joining us now, we're currently watching the per suit of the escaped convict known as Electro as he attempts to kill Spider-Man. Electro has been chasing the wall crawler throughout the middle of Republic City and is en-route towards Harmony Tower as I speak.'_ the reporter said over the box.

Akiko gulped, _Please don't lose Jason. Please_. she thought to herself.

…

Harmony Tower was the second biggest landmark of Republic City, the first being Avatar Aang Memorial Island. And Jason was trying not to get fried as he swung around one of it's legs, "You know, if this doesn't work out, you'd make a great nightlight." Spider-Man shouted as he climbed his webline upwards.

He circled around the arching leg and flung himself to the second platform of the tower, back flipping backwards as Electro sent beams of electricity at him. _This is gonna be a long fight, I need to stop this now._ The masked hero thought before he was hit by another blast, _And before I'm pudding would be ideal._

The teen's back hit one of the arches and landing in a large box, "What the-" he started, looking down at the box, he saw that it was a generator. The teen jumped down from the box as Electro tried to blast him again. _That's a regulator! It helps distribute electricity to the lights on the tower, I wonder...no one couldn't take Electro's power level. But four could._ Jason thought.

The teen saw four regulators, each of them on the legs of the tower. Jason fired a webline to one and sprinted across the platform towards one of the other legs, dogging Electro's blasts as he did. "Just give up! I'm stronger than ever! You can't stop me!" he boasted as he launched a blast towards Spider-Man.

Jason threw his arm out, attaching the web to the other regulator before getting knocked clear off the platform. Spider-Man reacted quickly, firing a web to the underside of the platform . Using his momentum, he barely grazed the ground as he swung under the platform.

The teen came up on the opposite side where he was blasted from, also upside down, and delivered a double kick to Electro's back sending the both of them to the floor. Just before the teen cod leap away, the man grasped his leg, sending a current through the masked hero's body and making him cry out.

"Ha! Looks like you are just another bug. And a bug needs to be zapped he said as the teen fell to the ground before electrocuting him again.

"GAAHHHHHH!" The teen wailed. _It feels like I stick a fork in a outlet!_ The teen thought as he spasmed from the electricity, I just gotta bare with it for a bit, just need a few seconds.

Electro smiled wickedly as his eyes glowed once more, he raised his hand to deliver the final blow.

Just like Jason planned. But he had to move fast.

He quickly shot two webs at either side of him to the final two regulators, he connected the lines.

Electro's hand shot out the electricity.

Jason shot another web behind Electro, to the web above his head with one hand while he held the other line with his other hand.

The electricity was close to Jason's face.

He connected the weblines together and let go.

The webs snared Electro's charged hand and drew the electric charge away from him and to the air, the regulators came to life. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Electro cried out as he felt the power drain from his body.

The tower's lights lit up like never before, so much so that Spider-Man had to cover his eyes so he wasn't blinded by the immense light. The light reached all the way to Air Temple Island, the Airbending family looked out the window to the bright lights as the rest as the city did the same.

Spider-Man pulled his arms away to see a smoking Electro, "Now whose the bug zapper?" the teen asked mockingly as he webbed the man from head to toe.

"W-W-What did you do?" Electro asked.

Spider-Man grinned under his mask, "Same thing I did the same time we fought. Only this time I did it on a larger scale, distributing your power to separate points and leaving you with nothing." he said as he stood up.

"Electricity likes to keep moving, that's just it's nature. You where conducting a current throughout your body. Making it a closed circuit, so I gave it other ways out, soon enough there wasn't any left in ya, and a the power went to the regulators." he continued, looking at where his webs where.

The sounds of the stairs being flooded could be heard from both their positions, "Ah listen to me go on like a science teacher, I'm sure you got some friends you need to see." Jason said before making his way to the edge of the platform.

"Next time, just stay in jail dude." he said before jumping off the side of the platform as the police burst through the stairway entrance.

"Police! Freeze!"

…

Akiko let out a sigh of relief, He's not roasted thank god. she thought in relief. The girl turned to her parents and brother, "Is it ok if I go see Jason? I...wanna make sure he's not blind from that." she said, pointing to the window where Harmony Tower was shining like a beacon to the world.

Kasuni and Huang gave each other a look, Huang gestured to the girl and Kasuni sighed, "Just get back home quickly." she says decisively.

Akiko gave a smile, "Thank you. I'll be back!" she said before rising from her seat and going to get her coat on.

Keito watched as his sister exited the home quickly before turning to his parents, "So are we going to talk about how you two just let my baby sister go to a boy's house?" he asked.

Huang smirked, "You think that Jason would try something with Aki?" he asked.

Keito thought for a moment, "Fair point...actually maybe we should call and warn Jason."

…

Jason stepped through his apartment window softly, the teen took his mask off and let out a sigh, "I don't want to even touch another outlet for a week. Minimum." he said to himself as he plopped down in his chair.

The teen sighed, "Ok, let me think. Costume needs major repair, and my mask lens, what else?" he asked right before the door knocked.

"Jason I know your in there." Jason 'a head snapped to the door at Akiko's voice. The teen gulped, _You know what? I'm just gonna get this awkward conversation out of the way with_. The teen thought as he stood up.

The teen made his way to the door before taking a breath and opening it, Akiko stood there with a nervous look on her face. The air around the two felt off. And neither knew what to say.

That was until Akiko saw the extent of Jason's injures, "Oh my god...are you ok?" she asked, pushing Jason into the room a and shutting the door behind her.

She looked over the teen with disbelief, "How are you even still standing?" she asked in disbelief. Jason looked like he went trough a war zone, his hair was sticking in almost all directions, and he just looked tired.

"No idea...so..." he started. Unsure of what exactly to say.

Akiko raised her hands, "Before you say anything, I need to say something." she stated. They both knew where this conversation was heading, so Akiko wanted to say what she came here to say.

Jason nodded, giving her permission to continue. "I just spent the day looking for you, and when I get home I hear your fighting a supervillain over the radio. And as I sat there, listening to you fight and get your ass kicked," she joked with a small smirk. "I kept thinking, 'Is he going to die?' over and over in my head." she admitted.

"I was terrified Jason. The thought of you dying...it scares me more than anything." she said, projecting her fears through her eyes as best she could. Jason felt all the more guilty about his actions, he didn't mean to worry her in the slightest. "But what scared me more...was the thought that I'd never see you again."

Jason wanted to speak but Akiko continued, "I know why you ran away last time. I know that you think that...this," she gestured between the two of them, "is dangerous. And I know that...but I don't care." she said, causing the teen's eyes to widen.

"Jason, you care for me. I care for you. And your making this more complicated than it needs to be, I want this," another gesture, "and I'm sure you do too." she finished, giving the teen a knowing look.

Jason looked down to the floor, "Aki...I...I do care for you." he admitted, making both the teens hearts jump, "But it's because of that I don't...every time I think about it, I think of what happened to my mom." he said sadly.

Jason took a deep breath, "The pain I felt was...unbearable...and I wake up at night feeling like it all over again Aki. And I couldn't...the thought of losing you..." he struggled. But one thing was clear, he count stand the thought of losing Akiko.

Akiko stepped forward and tilted Jason's head up, making the two look each other in the eyes, "Jason, I know that you'll never let that happen." she said supportively.

_I can't promise that...but I also can't promise that she will get hurt because of me...I was dumb before with mom_. The teen admitted to himself.

He raised his bare hand to the side of Akiko's face.

_Damn it all._

Jason leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Akiko eyes widened at the sudden action, but melted into the kiss a second later.

Jason slid his hand around her waist and brought her closer. Akiko's hand slid behind his neck and pulled Jason closer, running her fingers lightly through the teen's hair in the process.

The pair pulled away from each other, faces flushed red and breathing heavily. "So...that's a yes?" Akiko asked jokingly, making Jason chuckle at the girl.

"Yep...your...Ahem...your a good kisser." Jason said, making Akiko burst out in laughter. Jason's face turned pink but let a small smile grace his lips nonetheless, "It's better than awkward silence." he stated.

Akiko managed to calm herself down after a few seconds and smiled, "Thanks...your pretty good yourself. You haven't been practicing have ya?" she asked, making Jason sputter a answer out while his face turned red.

The sounds of shouting caught their attention. But instead of shouts of pain of, people where counting down, "It's New Years." Jason stated in realization. Akiko moved closer and put her head on Jason's shoulder.

The two looked towards the clock on the wall as seconds ticked by. Akiko wrapped her arms around the teen in a hug and returned it, "Happy New Years hero." she said with a content smile, leaning against his shoulder.

Jason smiled as well, "Happy New Years Aki." he replied as the clock struck twelve.

The new couple shared another kiss, celebrating the dawn of the New Year.

**AN: End of Act II.**

**The fight was inspired by the original Spider-Man 2 Enter Electro final boss fight. Sequel to the very first Video Game I ever played. Ahhhh, the memories.**

**So, New Year, new friends, new problems, new villains, and maybe some new heroes? **

**That last one is a bit of a long shot, and I mean very slim chance but still a chance. So with Jason and Aki together now who knows what will happen? Well I do but I'm not telling anyone. **

**But just remember she isn't Gwen, MJ, or Black Cat, or anyone. Sorry but I keep getting stuff on MJ being Asami and Gwen being Aki. She's a OC, I'm going off of ear here people.**

**Anyway I just stated school today so I'll be updating at a slowed pacs from now on I'm afraid. But I'll keep 'em coming.**

**Thank you all for reading this chapter. I really put some heart into it and I'm happy with how it came out and I hope you guys are too. As always I ask that you guys leave reviews to show support, thanks again and until next time!**


	20. Chapter 20

Republic City Riot

Jason and his friends sat at their usual lunch table, with Xang, Lee, and Kong sitting on the side opposite of him while Akiko sat beside him, holding his hand under the table secretly.

School of course came back around shortly after New Years, and with it the small problems that Jason faced on a day to say basis. Arriving late, getting homework done on time, and staying awake in class. And biggest of all, getting up in the morning.

"I hate school." Xang stated as he looked down at his food with his arm supporting him on the table. "I miss doing nothing all day." he said wistfully.

Kong sighed, "I'm going to miss having no Pro Bending practice." he said, making the other two jocks groan. As much as they love the sport itself, practice is as frustrating as can be.

"Damn you Kong. I forgot about that." Lee said, putting his head on the table. The firebender let out a sigh, "Going back to school sucks." he stated, receiving nods from all around the table.

Akiko shrugged, "Only a few more months boys. Just keep it together a bit longer." she said, trying to brighten everyone's mood.

Xang gave the pair a look, "That's easy for you two to say. You guys are probably just using class time to write each other lov-OW!" he yelped as Akiko swiftly kicked the jock's shin. "Hey my lively hood depends on my legs thank you very much!" he shot at the girl. Akiko merely stuck her tongue out at Xang.

_Well that would make two of us_. Jason thought to himself. Xang had quickly figured out that the two teens had gotten together fairly quickly. In fact they where both surprised that he of all people connected the dots.

He simply said that he had a bet going with Lee that the two would hook up by the end of the school year. Akiko and Jason both sent him glared that could kill if they could afterwords.

As for Jason and Akiko, they had been in heaven since they both gave into their feelings for each other. But Akiko found out that Jason was incredibly awkward about being her boyfriend. Not that he did anything bad, but he just didn't know exactly how to act.

The two both agreed to take things slow considering Jason's role as Spider-Man. So for now they had t told anyone, including family, though both of them where fairly open to that idea from the moment it came up.

"So what's your guys plans? After high school I mean." Jason asked the group. He knew that he'd still be Spider-Man, but the young hero didn't have plan other than that. He'd probably still work at the Marvel, he didn't oppose the idea anyway, Whitney was a great friend to him and the only place he ever saw her was work.

Kong shrugged, "I think I may go and work down at the shipping company, they're always looking for waterbenders." he said thoughtfully.

Lee smiled, "I'm probably going work at my mom and dad's restaurant." he said, making the entire table look at him. The firebender pulled up on his collar, "It's the Fire Starter before you guys ask." he stated.

The group's eyes widened, the Fire Starters had done of the best food in all the city, "Dude what the hell! We're sitting here eating crappy school food when your folks own a restaurant?" he asked, holding up his packed lunch.

Lee shrugged, "Well you guys didn't ask." he stated, making the table have no choice but to agree.

Akiko smiled, "Part time artist, but as for living money wise I'll probably do something like advertising." she said with a shrug.

Xang as verged his eyes from everyone's looks, his teammates gave him looks of encouragement, "Um...United Forces." he sad quietly. Jason's jaw nearly hit the table with how fast it dropped, Akiko shared his shocked look while Lee and Kong gave him supporting looks.

Jason was the first one to recover from the shocking revelation, "I'm...surprised." he stated.

Xang smiled, "Yeah the look on your face kinda gives it away." he said, noting the teen's still wide eyes. "Look, it's not that hard a choice, I like bashing people with rocks, the UF let's you do that to bad guys." he said cheerfully.

Akiko gave him a look, "So your joining to beat the crap out of the enemy. In peacetime?" she asked skeptically. The United Forces where put together when 100 year war supporters became violent, it took a few years but the group was eventually disbanded.

Xang shrugged, "Peace doesn't last forever. Besides, it's probably the closest thing to what Spider-Man does." he said, making Jason freeze. _He's doing this because of me? Oh god_. the teen groaned inwardly. He didn't want people to try and do what he does, it's dangerous, stupid, but also fun. Which is probably why Xang wants to do it.

Jason shook his head of those thoughts, "Hey if it's what you want to do, then go for it. But word of advice, stay away from commander Bumi. He'll get you into trouble." he stated seriously. He had learned the hard way that Bumi was a trouble maker, he actually had half a thought to suit up just to teach him a lesson.

…

Jason and Akiko walked along the sidewalk as they exited the school, the couple intertwined their hands as they got farther from the school. Jason's cheeks had a tinge of pink to them but it was unnoticeable from a distance, "Your still blushing? After like two weeks of...this?" Akiko asked with a smile.

Jason gave her a sheepish smile, "Hey I'm nervous. Give me a break." he explained.

"You go out at night in tights and a mask and beat up criminals. And your nervous about dating me?" she asked with a small smirk. She shook her head, "Well what about on New Years? You where pretty...forward." she said, a small bush on her face as she recalled the pleasant memory.

"Oh I was nervous. I was just so happy you felt the same way I didn't care how nervous I was." he explained. Jason gave her hand a squeeze, "I'm still happy about this before you ask." he stated proudly, making the girl beside him blush.

Akiko moved closer to Jason with a sweet smile on her face, "Same here." she stated while the teen blushed at the close contact with the girl. "So what's in store for you tonight?" she asked.

Jason thought for a moment, "Well I'm still trying to find out where those Equalists are hiding out. The sooner I shut them down the better, I got two triads to deal with. The sooner I can take these guys down the better." he stated. Ever since their attempted hijacking on New Years, the group have been busy as of late.

And people weren't exactly forthcoming with their whereabouts, the benders of the didn't have a clue. And the non bending community where keeping tight lipped about it. It irked Jason that people where keeping quiet, but he was doing the same thing with Akiko so he had no room to complain.

Akiko rolled her eyes before patting the teen's shoulder with her empty hand, "I was talking more about what Jason O-rou had in mind. Not the web head." she explained. "Your allowed to have somewhat of a normal life." she said with a joking smile.

Jason scratched the back of his head, ever since him and Akiko got together he's wanted to take her out on a date. A actual date, the only problem was that when he asked, some crime or other would take him away from her.

Jason would have to call Akiko and cancel, but what ate him up was that Akiko was completely fine with it. The teen got those thoughts out of his head and looked at Akiko, "Well I was thinking maybe we could try and have a date. Again." he added, making the two of them smirk.

"And the past five times have turned out pretty well huh?" she said jokingly, Jason looked down at the sidewalk. Akiko moved in front of him and tilted his head up, "Hey don't get so down about it. Besides I'm not all for those Stupid expensive restaurant dates, too cheesy." she said honestly.

Jason smiled at his girlfriend's attitude, "Well that and I probably couldn't afford them." he added.

"Well that goes without saying." she said with a shrug.

Jason groaned, "God I just want to be a good boyfriend, and I can't even do that right!" he said in frustration as he ran a hand down his face.

Akiko lightly hit his shoulder, "You are not a bad boyfriend. Your nice, you listen, and you support me. That's a good boyfriend." she started, "I don't care that we don't go out on dates. We spend a lot of time together anyway. And we both like being with each other." she said, making the teen smile.

"Well I'm your first so you don't have anything to compare it to." Jason muttered, making Akiko slap his arm. "Oh come on, tell me I'm wrong." he added as he rubbed his shoulder.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Your lucky I like you so much." she said with a smile. The girl leaned towards Jason and parted herips slightly. Jason closed his eyes and leaned in.

A police car with sirens blaring zoomed by just as the two where about to kiss.

Jason let out a wine, "Really! Come on!" he yelled up at the sky, "Just one little break universe! That's all I ask!" he called up, making Akiko snicker at the boy's reaction. Before he could continue, Akiko pulled his face to her's and pressed her lips to his.

She broke away a second later, "Go on, give them a hit for me would ya?" she asked jokingly as Jason grinned.

"We can continue this later. After I'm done breaking a few teeth." he said before running off down the street, slipping his hands into his pockets and putting his web shooters on.

Akiko smiled as she watched Jason run into the fray.

…

Spider-Man swung through the air over the rooftops of Republic City, "This have better be something important or I swear to god." Jason muttered to himself as he let go of the webline, flinging him high into the air above the buildings.

The teen shot a web to the side of a water tower and pulled it back. Sending himself over the water container and towards the sound of police sirens. The teen landed on the edge of a building, perching himself above the seen below him.

Two men in Equalist uniforms where fighting police officers as the building beside them burned. "Ok. I wasn't expecting this when I woke up this morning." The teen muttered to himself before he vaulted to the ground below.

Spider-Man angled himself so that his feet connected to the first man's head, Jason pushed off from him as he fell and launched himself towards the second one. The teen threw his fist out to the second man who rolled out of the way.

"What you don't want to join your friend on the ground? I hear it's super comfortable." Jason joked as he rolled to a standing position. The Equalist stopped before the police officer and delivered a series of jabs to his arms and chest.

The officer stomped his foot onto the ground, meaning to send a pillar of earth up to knock the man away, but nothing happened. Before he could question why, the Equilist delivered a hard hit to the man's gut. Knocking him to the ground.

_Chi blocking? I've heard about it but-_ Jason thought as he shot two webs at the Chi Blocker's feet and pulled the ground out from under him. Before the Chi Blocker could react, Spider-Man leapt over to his back before back flipping off him and webbing him to the ground.

"See? Comfortable." the masked teen joked as he made his way over to the dowed officer. "Hey pal, you ok?" he asked as he helped the man into a sitting position.

"Uggghhh, I'm fine. Thanks Spider-Man." he said gratefully. The two both turned to the burning building, the sounds if people crying out coming from inside.

"Shit! Get on the radio and get the fire department down here after you break the front door down!" Spider-Man ordered as he leapt up towards the one of building's windows and crashed inside the room. "Hello? Anyone home?" he called out.

The young hero felt his Spider Sense pointing ahead towards the door of the room. He rushed forward and broke the door down and looked down the hallway, "Help! For spirits sake help!" a make voice shouted from down the hall.

Spider-Man ran down the hall and turned a corner, coming to a room with the door handle held in place by wires. The teen yanked the wires off and threw the door opening, revealing a family of three, "Ladies and gentlemen if you fallow me you'll find the way out. Come on!" he said as he retreated back down the hall where he came.

The teen came to the way he came in, "Ok, one at a time, no need to rush." Jason said as he picked up the child of the family and repelled him down the window. "Next?" he asked once the child was out of harm's way. The husband and side looked at each other before the wife stepped forward.

The teen lowered the woman downto the street below, embracing her child once safe. Jason turned to the man and grabbed him, "What the-" he started before Spider-Man leapt out the window and to the street. When they where on firm ground, the teen released the man who gave him a embrace, "Thank you! Thank you Spider-Man! You saved my family." he said with tears in his eyes.

Jason smiled under his mask, "Hey I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. What kind of guy would I be if I let your goose get cooked?" he asked. The man gave the teen a handshake as he went over to his relived family.

The teen looked over to the unconscious Equilist and sneered, as the family was approached by the on site officer, Jason walked over and grabbed the unwebbed criminal. "I'm going to barrow this for a second." he called over to the policeman before shooting a web to the top of a building as pulling himself up.

Spider-Man struck the man across his face, "Wake the hell up!" he demanded as the man started to regain consciousness. Spider-Man there him to the wall of a service entrance and stuck him in place with webbing. "Alright chucklehead. Your going to tell me whatever I want to know about."

The masked thug laughed, "You think I'll reveal our secrets to you? No! The age of the benders is over!" he stated proudly.

The teen hopped to the side of the wall and got in close to the man, "You think you'll be able to so anything once I drop you from the top of this rooftop feet first?" he asked threateningly. He couldn't see the man's face under the mask so he couldn't tell if he was buying it, Ok, time for plan B.

The teen dropped from the side of the wall and yanked the Equilist off it and carried him with one arm to the edge of the by building, "Wait! Wait Wait!" the man started before Spider-Man threw him in the air towards the ledge. The man's eyes widened under his mask as he began to fall.

Just at the last moment, Spider-Man caught him by his foot, "What was that?" he asked, "I thought I heard you say something before you started screaming."

"Ok! For gods sake Ok! I'll tell you everything I know!" he shouted above the streets.

…

Jason had just turned in his paper on the firebombing that he intervened. The grunt had told him that it was one of their scare tactics for benders. Lock a family in a house and light it up to send a message, "I'm going to break Amon's legs if I get my hands on him."

Jason looked up to see Whitney with a pissed off look on her face, she had just finished reading Jason's story and was mad as hell that Equlilists would do something like this. "I'll hold him down while you get a sledgehammer." Jason cracked as he leaned back in his chair.

Whitney let out a sigh, "You know what the worst part is? That Amon actually has a argument." she said with disgust.

Jason gave a nod of understanding. Some of the best jobs of Republic City went to benders, construction, power plant, dockworker, all went to one of the four elemental carriers. "Well once they hear how far he's willing to go I'm guessing people will change their tune."

Whitney didn't look convinced, "Jason people fear Amon. They fear what power he has. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the Kingpin." she said, making the teen do a double take.

"But I stopped..." the teen stopped himself, "thinking that anyone else was the Kingpin when Sandman gave him up." the teen said, catching himself before he could blow his own cover.

Whitney shook her head, "I thought that too. And crime in the Kingpin's districts where down for a while, but recently they started growing again." she explained as she dug into her desk before pulling out what looked like a call sheet. "These are all 911 calls from the docks in the past month or so. There's over sixty." she said as Jason looked it over.

The teen grimaced, _So I didn't solve anything. That's just great._ The teen scolded himself. "So you think the guy the police put away was a fall guy?" he asked. Jason suddenly had a idea, "Wait if he's the fall guy then that means that he's gotta know who the real Kingpin is!"

Whitney sighed, "That's what I thought too. And imagine my shock when I learned that he died in prison the exact day that we noticed the increased crime rate." she said with frustration evident on her tone.

Jason ran a hand over his face, "Can't be easy. It just can't can it?" he asked.

The young hero lowered his head to the desk and rested his chin on the wood. In the corner of the desk was a picture of him with the Airbending family, all smiling widely as the camera went off. Bumi, Kya and Katara all had to return to their homes a few days ago. During his time with them he grew close to Kya and Bumi like family.

Katara kept her word and didn't breath his secret to anyone, and he was sad to see her go. She was the grandmother that he never had, _Makes me wonder what Mom's folks where like. If they kicked Pema out I may not want to know_.

Jason shook his head of those thoughts as his phone rang. The teen picked the line up, "Hello?" he asked.

_"Jason, it's Wei."_ the voice on the line said.

Jason's eyes widened, he and Wei saw each other often and had become fairly good friends but this was the first time the Captain called him. "Hey what's up?" the teen asked.

"Look I can't really talk right now. Can you meet me down at the station? We have...a delicate matter on our hands." he said.

Jason didn't exactly like the sound of that, "I'll get there as soon as I can." he said before hanging up and slipping his jacket on.

…

Jason took a cab to the station, after paying the driver, Jason hopped up the steps of the station and entered through he front. After being pointed the right way to Wei's office, the teen entered to see the captain with a hard look on his face sitting behind his desk, "Well you look like I do when I don't have coffee in the morning."

Wei looked up to the teen, "Jason, thanks for coming." he said, extending his arm to the seat in front of his desk.

Jason sat down and felt a sense of smallness come over him, Wei almost looked intimidating to the teen. That is if he was a normal teenager, "So what's the big deal? You look like you haven't slept in days." he said with a knowing look.

Wei sighed, "I asked you down here because you've been all over the Equalist stories lately." he said, holding up the paper from two days ago when he busted up a bunch of them trying to bully their way into a all bender apartment building.

Jason nodded, "Yeah...I'm not in trouble right?" the teen asked warily.

Wei shook his head, "No, nothing like that. It's just...do these guys operate like a triad? Like with initiation crap like the Agni Kai did?" he asked.

The teen thought for a moment, he'd been on the Equlilists for the past few weeks and he hasn't seen anything like that, "No no initiation. And they're not a gang, there just...passionate about their cause I guess." he said, making Wei run a hand down his face. "Wei. What's going on?" the young hero questioned.

Wei lacked his lips in before speaking, "Earlier, a police officer took down a suspected Equalist. His name is Sun, he's a teenager." he started before his expression turned serious, "The officer said that he was armed with a weapon, but we didn't find one." the captain said, making the teen's eyes widen.

"Is Sun-"

"He's critical right now. Last I heard." the captain said.

Jason shook his head, "Look Wei all due respect but last time I checked police try not to send unarmed people to critical condition...why are you telling me this?" the teen asked.

Wei looked down at his desk, "Because the bosses don't want people to find out until we get this all settled away." he said with irritation. "They think that Amon will capitalize on this and use it to win over support." he explained.

Jason stood from his seat, "You can't be serious." the teen said in disbelief. He could understand something like this happening, a cop goes to far and accidentally hurts a perp. But this is just some guy that was innocent! And what's worse is that they want to cover it up.

Wei raised his hands in defense, "Believe me Jason, I hate this as much as you do. But this is from the council, even Bei-Fong is pissed." he said making the teen stop frowning.

"Ok. Fine I'll-" the teen was interrupted by the ringing phone on Wei's desk.

The captain picked the phone up, "Wei...shit. Ok." the man hug up before turning to the teen. "That was the doctors...Sun passed away five minutes ago." he said sadly.

Jason gritted his teeth, "To hell with this. I'm writing this. You may as well arrest me now." the teen said boldly. To hell with what the council wants, people need to know this.

"I'm not stopping you." the captain said, giving the teen his approval. Jason walked out the door of the captain's

…

It was nearly 8:00 when Jason finished typing up the rest of his story on Sun. He was about ready to fall over, he told Whitney that he was working overtime when she left for home earlier. She told him that he should just wait until tomorrow but the teen insisted on doing it tonight.

The young hero re-read his article for any spelling errors, this was his third draft of the story and he needed it to be perfect. The teen didn't even notice the elevator open, he was too busy debating if he misspelled the word 'Critical'.

The teen turned to the sound of footsteps to see uncle, "Tenzin? What are you doing here?" the teen asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He didn't expect Tenzin of all people to come see him at this hour of the day.

"Mis. Chang called me and said that you where working yourself to death...I take it you know." he said sadly, recalling hearing about Sun's death earlier today.

Jason looked down at his paper, "Yeah...you didn't vote to cover it up right?" the teen asked. He didn't want his work to badly reflect Tenzin in anyway, though he couldn't see Tenzin agreeing with something like this in the first place.

The Airbender shook his head, "No. That was Tarrlock's suggestion, I was the only one who voted against it." he explained to the teen's relief.

"Tarrlock. He's the councilman that Spidy webbed to a wall after he tried to turn him into a spider flavored ice cream...ew." the teen said once he had that thought in his mind. "The guy is a major a-hole." the teen summed up.

Tenzin coughed into his fist, "Not the...term I would use. But he is a pain to work with." he said.

The teen let out a sigh, "Sorry uncle Ten. But I've been working non-stop recently, and it's starting to get to me." he said apologetically. His body was sore and he was in desperate need of sleep, but Spider-Man's work is never done.

The Airbender put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "You need to rest Jason. You can't solve all the world's problems." he said, making the teen sigh. _No, but I have try and help solve the city's problems at least_. The young hero thought.

The teen stood from his desk, "Just let me turn this in and you can drag me home." the teen joked. Tenzin smiled as the teen put the paper in the outgoing box near Stan's office before grabbing his coat and joining his uncle.

"So how do you think people are going to react? I wouldn't be all that friendly of the police for a while." the teen admitted as the two stepped into the elevator. Jason hit the ground floor button as the elevator closed.

The Airbending master sighed, "Violently. It's how they usually react to news like this, and to be honest, I can't blame them." he stated. Jason could understand that, the rage he felt when Ava passed was nothing like he ever felt before. He was still surprised he let the man who did it live, he was bloodthirsty when he left the hospital.

_And something tells me I'm going to be seeing more of that sooner rather than later._ The teen thought as the metal box descended the elevator shaft.

…

Jason awoke to the smell of smoke, "What the hell?" he muttered as he sat up. He looked towards the door and saw smile pouring out from the other side of the door. "Oh shit!" Jason sprang out of bed and ran towards the door and broke it down.

His apartment was on fire. Again.

Smoke flooded the teen's senses, he couldn't see, he couldn't breath, and all he felt was heat from the blaze. Jason went into a coughing fit, his legs felt twenty times heavier and his knees hit the floor.

The fire covered everything, the floor, walls and furniture where turning into ash, the sound of crumbling wood was all Jason could hear. Cinders fell onto Jason's shoulders, the roof was going to collapse.

"JASON!"

The teen's head snapped to where the voice was. "AKIKO!" the teen sprinted over to the girl, she was pinned under rubble just like Ava had been. The teen put his fingers under the splintering wood that used to be the ceiling. "Hang on!"

She had a bloodied forehead with her eyes barely open, "Aki you need to stay with me! Please! Just a little longer!" Jason used every bit of strength he had to try and pull the rubble off her but it wouldn't budge! "Move damn you!" The teen demeaned as he tried again.

"Jason...why?" A distorted voice asked. Jason looked down at Akiko and saw Ava in her place. Her skin was turning black, her veins started popping with puffs of snooks coming out of her skin. "Why can't you save me?" the woman asked desperately as her eyes started to bleed.

"MOM!"

…

Jason sprung up from his bed, his sheets where drenched with sweat and his heart rate was sky rocketing. "It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream. It's just a dream." The scared hero said to himself over and over.

He cover his face with his hands, "Aki is alive. Aki is alive. Aki us alive...she's alright...(sniffle) she's alright." the teen whimpered, pulling his hands away and letting the tears run down his face. Jason swallowed hard before rising from bed and heading to the door.

Relief washed bed him in waves as he opened the door, showing no fire. "Thank you god." the teen said, wiping the tears away. He walked over towards the sink and splashed water over his face, walking the last of himself up from the nightmare.

The teen sat down on the couch and held his moist face in his hands, he looked to the clock on the wall, it was 11:07 in the evening. "Screw it. I need to go out." the teen said to himself as he re-entered his bedroom.

…

Spider-Man ran along the side of a building, the air wiping around his mask as he sprinted over the bricks below his feet. When he reached the ledge of the building he jumped off the side of the building. He feel through the air, letting his arms go behind him as he fell towards the rooftops below.

The teen sent a webline to a nearby building and swung over the rooftops and into the air. Spider-Man let go of the web as he landed in a rooftop and walked towards the ledge. _Usually web swinging helps clear my head...guess I have a lot on my mind tonight_. The teen thought as he sat on the ledge.

The teen looked down to the streets below as the snow lightly began to fall towards the ground. He found himself near his old home, the reconstruction was nearly finished and the place almost looked as good as new. Save for the scares that Jason had from that day.

"Ok yeah this whole, 'clearing my mind' thing would work way better if I didn't come to the place where I got the bad memory." the teen said to himself. He let out a sigh, "Maybe I should just take a break from this before something bad happens." he said to himself.

His eyes widened at what he just said, "Wait! No! I didn't mean it!" he called up to the sky.

The sound of a large explosion confirmed his fears. Spider-Man face palmed, "I gotta stop doing that." he said to himself before he dropped from the ledge of the rooftop. The teen shot a webline to the flagpole below him and used it as a pendulum. The teen arced around the pole and let go of the web, sending him over the streets of the city.

Jason fried a web to his side and rounded the edge of a building before releasing it and shooting another line to the wall down the street. He pulled the web down between his legs, making him go down the street at a faster pace before letting go of the web.

The teen rebound off the side of a building and shot a web to the building ahead of him. He swung his legs to his left, swinging around the street corner before spraying webbing to another building ahead of him. Jason barely grazed over the rooftops of buildings before swinging into the air.

The teen looked down at the streets below him.

It was pure chaos.

Cars where turned over, some where on fire, and there was broken glass from apartment windows on the ground. "What the hell! I just cleaned up this neighborhood."

Three men down in the streets ran towards a woman with a earth wall surrounding her. "Come on out you piece of trash! Take your beating like a human being!" one of the shouted as they tried to climb the all and her t the woman.

Spider-Man leapt ontop of the wall and looked down at the man, "Do you count part spiders as human beings? I'm honestly asking." Jason joked as he knocked the man to the ground with a kick this face.

The teen launched himself down to the two men and kneed one in the chin while grabbing the other. He sprayed the man to the ground and threw the grabbed man into the one he knocked down first.

Jason walked over to the webbed man and put his foot firmly on his chest, "Ok listen pebble brain. Tell me what's up with the block party." the young hero demanded as the man tried to break free of the teen's webbing.

"It's those benders! They killed Sun! They killed a innocent bender and we can't defend ourselves!" the man exclaimed. _Oh you gotta be kidding me_. Jason thought in exasperation.

The teen grabbed the man out of the webbing and threw him to the side of the building and stuck him to it with some webbing. "You can come out now ma'am." Jason said to the earth bender.

The woman lowered the wall and looked around and gave the hero a grateful look,"Thank you Spider-Man." she said. The vigilante gave a salute before swinging away from the woman.

_Ok, rioting is a new one for me. Well, may as well get to work_. Jason thought as he swung around a building and landed in the chaotic street below. The teen blocked a strike aimed at his head with his elbow and countered with a fist to the gut.

The teen grabbed the man and threw him into two other men. Spider-Man's Spider Sense went off, the teen backflipped and landed on another rioter's back and pushed him to the ground and stick him with webbing.

His Spider Sense was going haywire, but with the help of his reflexes, Jason managed to take down ten more men before the people on the streets started to swarm him, "Gah! Hey not in the face!" The teen exclaimed as he was struck with a brick in the forehead.

He strikes the man with a punch to the jaw of the man and sending him sparking onto the ground. Spider-Man was grabbed around his waist by a large man, the teen sprung up from the ground and sent the two if them into the air before slamming the man's back onto the ground.

"Ok enough!" he shouted at the top if his lungs as he shot a webline to a streetlamp and pulled himself ontop of it. "Ok listen up!" he shouted, the people in the street looked up at the teen. "I get that your all upset about what happened, but do you think Sun would want this! All this violence, all this mayhem! No! So before you all go saying that Sun would want justice, take a good look in the mirror!" he yelled at the top of his lungs for everyone to hear.

The people let that sink in, "Sun is dead. And I hate that he is, but that doesn't give you all the excuse to riot like this! So here's your choice, go home, or go to jail with me being the last one you see!" he threatened.

The men and women looked around at each other. They didn't see the same people that they saw on almost a daily, they saw people they didn't recognize. They saw packs of animals.

Slowly, the crowd of people began to shrunk smaller and smaller until there where no one left on the streets. Much to Spider-Man's surprise, "That...worked much much better than I planned." he stated.

…

Jason looked at himself in the mirror of his bathroom, he had a huge bruise on his forehead where he was hit by a brick, a cut on his lip, and too many bags under his eyes to count. In short, he looked like shit.

"Good spirits." Jason muttered at his disheveled state. "Well thank god it's not a school day." the teen said as he exited the bathroom and plopped down on the couch. The teen intended to take the day off from being Spidy just to rest.

_Knock Knock_

_Oh come onnnnn_. The teen groaned in his head before standing up and making it to the door. The young hero opened the door to see Akiko , her face showing her shock at the teen's appearance. "Oh my god." she muttered.

"That was my reaction. Come on in." he says, leaving the door open for her as he made his way back to the couch.

Akiko rushed to his side and put her hands on the sides of Jason's face, "What happened?" she asked with genuine concern while looking at the bruise in his head.

Jason smiled a tad at Akiko, "The usual. Mass rioting. Pillaging. Looting. Well those last two are the same but you get my point." he said jokingly as Akiko helped him down onto the couch. He estimated he'd heal by Monday at the latest, so he just had to hide his face until then.

Akiko have the teen a sympathetic look, "Oh my poor baby." she said, gently running her hand over the bruise, making Jason wince.

"Baby?" the teen asked, making Akiko's cheeks flush pink. "It's not that I don't like it but really? That's like the most cheesy thing to call me." he said jokingly.

"Fine, what about ladybug?"

"Baby is fine thank you." The teen added as Akiko laid him down onto the couch. "Uhhh, what are you doing?" Jason asked as Akiko went into the kitchen. After shuffling through his freezer, the girl found a Icepick for her boyfriend.

"Here. This should help." she said, pressing the pack against the teen's bruise.

Jason put his hand over Akiko's and held the Icepack in place. Jason smiled at the girl's worried face, "Hey, don't worry yourself Aki. I'm a quick healer." he said, trying to ease the girl's worries.

Akiko flashed the young hero a smile as she say down next to his side, "I heard about what happened. How do you feel?" she asked.

The young hero shrugged, "I'm not a hundred percent. But I'm getting there." he said. He was exhausted in all honesty, and he desperately wanted, needed, sleep. He started to draw small circles in her skin, Akiko smiled at the teen before leaning down and gently kissing his forehead.

She frowned slightly at the sight of the bags under his eyes, "When was the last time you slept right?" she asked.

Jason thought back to his nightmare the night before, "Not in a while." he answered truthfully.

Akiko gave him a sympathetic look. She rose from the couch and retreated to his bedroom, exiting a minute later with a blanket, "Here." she said as she covered the teen with it.

Jason wanted to protest but the blanket was warm and welcoming. "Aki-"

"Shhh. Just sleep. Ok?" she pleaded before giving his bruise a kiss.

Jason gave a fake pout, "And what about my lip?" he asked, trying to hold back the smile he had.

Akiko gave the teen a playful smirk, "And you call me a five year old." she stated before waning down and pressing her lips to his. Jason smiled against Akiko's lips as he brushed her hair aside with his hand.

Akiko pulled away before their little kiss could go any further, "Sleep. Now." she demanded with a smile and a warning look in her eyes.

"Well my lip still hurts-" Akiko stopped smiling, "but what are ya going to do?" he said, readjusting himself into a comfortable position. "Sorry I can't do something with you today." the teen apologized. He was planning on going with Akiko to the park or something today, but she was right. He desperately needed sleep.

Akiko smiled, "Don't worry about it. Just rest up." she said kindly before she stood up and made her way towards the teen's door. She turned to the sound of Jason lightly snoring, she turned off the light of the apartment, "Sleep tight Jason." she whispered before exiting the apartment.

Jason, for the first time in a long time, slept peacefully.

…

The news of Sun's death spread like wildfire in a forest with no stream. It was on top of every debate on the radio, every newspaper had a page on it, but Jason honestly fed up with all. Stan published Jason's article the next day and it was almost sold out for having Sun's name on the cover.

It had been a few days since the full out riot in the streets. Jason was currently on his way towards Harmony Tower with Akiko at his side. Jason looked over at her and smiled, "What are you so happy about dare I ask?" Akiko questioned with a small smile of her own.

The teen gave her a look, "We're on a date. A actual date." he stated. Even if it was daylight, Harmony Tower was still one of the most romantic points in the city. And he and Akiko where both going there.

Akiko's lips tugged into a smirk, "Your such a dork you know that?" she stated, intertwining her fingers with his.

The young hero gave her hand a squeeze, "I'm your dork madam. And I take a large amount of pride in that fact." he stated proudly as they walked towards the tower's stairway located in the leg of the structure.

Mad the two got closer, their hearts sank at the sign, 'Closed until further notice' handing in the doorway. "Oh damn it." Akiko swore, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've been looking forward to this all day." she muttered disappointingly.

Jason's face softened at Akiko's saddened face, the teen looked around for any bystanders, "Climb on my back." the teen said, turning his back to Akiko .

The girl looked at the teen strangely before complying and wrapping her arms around the young hero's neck. "Ok so what now?" she asked as Jason vent his legs before springing into the air. Akiko let out a yelp of surprise as Jason clung to the side of he building and started scaling the side of it.

"What are you doing?!" Akiko asked, surprise and excitement in her voice. She tightened her grip on the teen when she glanced downward.

Jason smiled, "My gal wants to see the top of Harmony Tower. She gets to see the top of the tower." he stated. "Besides I may as well do something like this with my girlfriend." he added as he passed the second platform of the tower.

Akiko chuckled as she smiled against Jason's neck. It took only a few more minutes before they reached the top of the tower, "Top floor, gusts of wind, beautiful view, and a beautiful girl to share it with." Jason said, making Akiko blush at his words.

"Jason do you know how much trouble we could get into here?" she asked. Akiko had never gotten in trouble, well serious trouble with the police involved that is. But she couldn't stop the shrill feeling of excitement pass through her body.

Jason put his hands on her shoulders, "Relax. I'll just use my press pass or something. Now forget about that," he turned the girl around, "and enjoy the view." he finished.

Republic City was beautiful. That was a given, but it was absolutely gorgeous from where Akiko was standing. The sight of cars moving along the streets where like veins that ran all throughout the city. And the people where the blood cells.

Akiko put her hands on the railing and looked over the edge, Jason came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, "Don't go falling off. I'm not in the mood to do any aerial acrobatics." he said.

Akiko's face flushed pink lightly at the physical contact but brushed it aside. She continued to look out into they city, soon the snow would be gone, spring would Blume, and it will be beautiful.

Akiko found herself slowly laying into Jason more, finding his chest more and more comfortable. Slowly, she removed her hand from the railing and out it over Jason's. The teen blushed at the contact but gave a smile nonetheless, "Your the best Jason. You know that?" she asked.

The teen laid his chin ontop of Akiko's head, "I try Aki." he said, enjoying the feeling of her pressed up against his. He was still nervous about all this, but for Akiko, he'd find a way to make it all work in the end.

After a few more minutes of looking out to the city before deciding to go back down to the ground. Which included Jason leaping off the side of the building, much to Akiko's delight and fear, and slowing his decent by webline.

When the two landed on the ground, Akiko slugged the teen's arm for scaring the hell out of her, "Ok! Ok! I'm sorry. I won't do that again." the teen said with a laugh. The look on her face was priceless.

Akiko rolled her eyes before leaning over and planting a peck on his lips, "That was nice. Can't wait until the next one." she said as she took ahold of Jason's hand.

The two began their walk towards Akiko's home, both overjoyed with how their first date had turned out.

**AN: This chapter was inspired in part by the Furguson riots that occurred recently. My heart goes out to the families affected by the recent events in the town and I hope that justice is done to those who deserve it.**

**I've been getting all sorts of suggestions for superheroes to include in the story and I'm happy for that. But I want you all to keep in mind that this is a Spider-Man focused story. **

**So it'd be kinda like the 90's series when he would sometimes team up with superheroes.**

**Now I have some in mind that I could use. Bit they have to mold I up the work of avatar. So, much to my displeasure, this eliminates quiet a few possibilities for now. So X-Men, Wolverine included, Captain America, Hulk, and other are out for now. But who knows, perhaps in some time I'll find a way to put them into the story.**

**Also I have seen the book 3 finale. And I'm starting to see that this show us getting more and more darker. And I love it! **

**Also I'm kinda doing kinda of a questionnaire on stupid stuff relating to marvel universe and a that. It's optional to answer so your not obligated. My question is what is you favorite web shooter noise? **

**I know stupid . Mine is the one used in the new movies with Emma and Andrew, it sounds exactly how is think a web shooter would sound. **

**So that's it for now. I thank you all for reading and enjoying the story so far. Thanks epically to those of you who leave reviews, thank you for reading and I'll see you next time!**


	21. Chapter 21

Birds of Prey

The snow had finally melted. And everyone in Republic City was rejoicing in the fact. With that came no more cold winter mornings, no icy roads, and no more layer upon layer of winter wear. And the best part was that it was happening in February.

"It's always a good sign when the snow melts this early." Pema said as she and Jason walked through the island with lemur food bags in hand. The teen was visiting the Airbending family and Pema had asked for help with feeding the lemurs.

"These things aren't going to claw my eyes out are they?" the teen asked. Besides Oogi, he didn't have many pleasant experiences with animals. Kraven's pet kitten could attribute to that, along with all the animal themed super villains.

Pema laughed, "Of course not! They're peaceful little guys. They wouldn't harm a fly." she said reassuringly.

_Yeah I bet that's what they say right before they sell you a pet dragon_. The teen thought as they approached the feeder, "Thanks for doing this. I haven't been one hundred percent lately." the woman admitted, making the teen give her a worried look.

"Really? If you want I could run into the city and get you something." he offered as he held the bag up and poured the feed into the lemur feeder.

Pema's cheeks turned pink, "No! I mean, no. No thanks Jason, but I appreciate the offer hon." she said nervously, making the teen raise a eye at her. He had lied enough times by now to tell when someone else is, and Pema is not a good liar .

"Uh huh." he said simply as the lemurs flew towards the feeder. The small mammals clung to the sides of the feeder and nibbled away at their food, ignoring the teen and aunt. "Wow. I can just feel the appreciation coming from them." the teen said with deadpan.

Pema's lips curved into a small smirk, "Have three kids then talk to me." she said as she led the teen back towards the main house. As the two walked along the path, Jason felt something land on his head, Pema turned and chuckled while pointing at his head.

"What? Oh, ok Meelo the free ride's over. Off bud." he said, folding his arms over his chest. Pema held back a laugh as the lemur that landed on Jason's head bent over the front of his head and looked the teen in the eyes. Jason yelped in surprise and tumbled back, making the lemur scurry off.

Pema couldn't help but laugh as Jason picked himself, and what little pride he had left, up off the ground. "Oh yeah. Feeling the love." he said to the snickering woman as he stood up.

As he stood up, the soud of rushing wind could be heard through the air, _And the award for teen superhero trying desperately to keep his identity a secret goes to-_

The Airbending children came zooming around a corner on air scooters, Ikki was in front fallowed by Jinora and Meelo. She rushed past the lemurs, scaring them away, and blew past Jason. The teen wavered dramatically for a moment before falling back down. _Jason O-rou ladies and gentlemen. Genius, hero, writer, actor, and a poor excuse for each one. _The teen thought to himself.

Jason stood as the children came to a stop, "Sorry for running you over Jason. But I was in the lead and I had to take it!" Ikki exclaimed. She was not going to lose to her siblings again.

The teen smiled at the girl, "No problem Ikki." he said, giving the girl a pat on the shoulder. In a way, I kinda envy them. They have normal lives, that's something I'll probably never have again.

Jinora came up beside her sister with a grin on her face, "So Jason. You taking someone to the Cherry Blossom festival?" the girl asked with a interested look.

The Cherry Blossom festival was a day of love all around the world. Couples go out and enjoy the day, eating festive food, playing games, winning prizes for their significant other. It's the most romantic day of the year, and Jason was going to ask Akiko to join him.

The teen blushed at the thought of him and Akiko going there. They had gone on a number of dates since their first, and each one seemed better than the last. Not that they went to better and better places, but more like each time they went somewhere together was better than the last.

"Uh, not sure if I will Jinora...but maybe I'll get a date before then." he said, making the kids look at him even more interested in the teen. Oh crap, I accidentally opened the floodgates. Jason thought in horror.

"You like someone! Who is it?" Ikki asked.

"Is she pretty? Or is she beautiful?" Meelo asked, latching to the sides of Jason's face. The teen swallowed hard, both he and Akiko had made it a point not to be learned of just yet. They would eventually of course but not quiet yet.

Pema saw the uneasy look on the teen's face, "If he brings somebody, I'm sure he'll tell you three. Now let the poor boy get up." she said, noting Jason's position on the ground with the kids holding him down. The kids quickly got off and realized that those race wasn't over yet, they mounted their air scooters and zoomed away.

Jason brushed the dirt off his clothes and gave Pema, "Ever think of making like a training room or something for them?" the teen asked, partial seriousness in his voice.

Pema smiled, "We did. But then we thought of the training grounds." she said, making the teen chuckle. Pema gave the teen a inquiring look, "So are you going to finally ask Akiko out?" she asked, making freeze in his tracks.

The teen had completely forgot that he told Pema about his feelings for Akiko. And he had no excuse to get himself out of this, "Well...funny that you should mention that..." he said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Pema gave the teen a strange look before realization dawned on her, "What did she say? Yes? No? What!" she asked, shaking her nephew's shoulders. The young hero kept his mouth shut until she stopped, Pema gave a apologetic look to Jason, "Sorry, but I don't get much to talk about with someone other than Tenzin."

Jason rolled his eyes, "We've...kinda been dating in secret." he said with a blush in his cheeks.

Pema flashed a hurt expression across her eyes, a feeling of small betrayal going through her, "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

Jason folded his arms over his chest and raised a eyebrow at the woman, "I can easily give you three reasons when they come around for another lap." he said. Pema could understand that, she loved her children to death, but they all had issues keeping private affairs that. Private.

"And the fact that we're both in brand new territory and don't want to screw it all up." he continued with his explanation. "Aki is one of the most amazing people in my life. I can't screw this up." he confessed. He truly thought that he was lucky to have met Akiko in the first place, let alone be in a relationship with her.

Pema put a hand on the teens shoulder and gave him a understanding smile, "My lips are sealed Jason." she said to the teen's relief. "But you shouldn't do this much longer, if people find out, it should be from you two, not someone else." she said wisely.

Jason took those words to heart, he was proud that Akiko wanted to be with him. So it made sense that they tell their friends and family before they find out another way. The teen walked along the path to the main house with his aunt by his side, questions on his mind that he would have to discuss with Akiko.

…

Spider-Man swung through the intersection of a street before releasing his webline and flying into the air. The teen landed ontop of a building across from a shipping warehouse. His police scanner reported seeing Equilists enter into the warehouse near the docks, since he was hitting the group hard, Jason figured busting up one of their operations would be a good start.

The teen leapt through the air and attached a webline to the building and swung towards the window, "Ah dramatic entrances. How I love thee." the teen said as he smashed through the window and landed ontop of a crate.

The Equilists looked up to the young hero, five of them gathered around a table with a map of the city laid out. Six more of them where unloading crates out of a van, "It's Spider-Man!" one of them cried out.

The masked teen looked around, "Really! Where? I always wanted a auto-oh your talking to me." he said mockingly before jumping off the crate and onto the table that the Eqialists surrounded.

Two of them jumped into the table, one swiped his leg at the teen while the other threw a punch. Spider-Man blocked the swipe with his forearm and caught the punch with his open palm before clasping his hand around it. He pulled the one man towards him as the teen rolled onto his back and kicked the chi blocker into his friend, sending both of them to the floor.

The teen rolled to a crouch and sprung off the table towards the men loading the crates. They all rolled out of the way as Spider-Man landed where one of them previously was. The teen's Spider Sense went off towards his back, he threw his elbow back right into the face of one of the men.

Spider-Man turned in time to see a man with a pair of Knives swipe them at him. "Didn't your mother teach you not to run with pointy objects?" the teen asked as he evaded the blades with ease. The chi blocker thrusted the blade forward, Spider-Man sidestepped and delivered a punch to his gut, sending him back a few feet clutching the area.

Three more Chi Blockers charged towards the young hero, Spider-Man parried a blow away with his leg, kicking the arm upward while he threw his arm out to the second man. The teen retracted his leg and hopped, attaching webs to the one man's feet and throwing him into the other.

The remaining four men all headed towards the costumed teen for one last attack. Spider-Man leaned back, dogging a swipe to his head as he drew his fist back before springing forward and sending his attack right into the man's face. One of the men grabbed the teen by his arm, Spider-Man sprayed his mask with webbing, making him let go before the teen uppercutted him.

The last man ran directly towards the teen. Spider-Man merely sprayed him with webbing, keeping him from going anywhere, "Well that was fun. For me of course, not so much for you guys." the teen said as he approached one of the boxes that they where unloading from the van.

Ripping the lid off, Jason looked down at the metal components with confusion. _I was expecting weapons, I mean usually that's what this is. But what could these guys want with electrical components?_ The teen inwardly pondered. He knew that the Equilists wouldn't spill so the teen out the crate back where he found it and pulled himself up to the window he came through via webline.

After a quick call to the police department, Jason perched on the side of a building and watched as the cops showed up. The teen looked down at the price of metal he took from the crime scene, it looked somewhat like a piston from a car but much smaller. "I'll check this out when I get home. Hopefully I'll get a clue where this came from." the young hero said aloud as he put the metal away into his pocket.

The teen sprung off the side of the building, shooting a web to the wall of one and swung around it, away from the police and onlookers.

…

Ahask was pissed. Ever since he escaped from The Vault along with most of the other prisoners, he couldn't stop thinking of Spider-Man. He ruined his plans for revenge on Hiroshi, and he knew that the wall crawler would just do it again the second he tried to move in on the CEO.

Ahask was hiding out in one of the production factories in the industrial district, it was the perfect place for him to reconstruct his Vulture suit. Too bad he didn't have a chance to use it at all.

The old man laid down on the cot that he used as a bed, the sound of the door opening made the man nearly spring out of bed, "Whose there? Who are you!" he demanded, reaching under his cut for one of his feather blades. The door opened to reveal a man in what resembled a almost military like uniform. What caught the old man's eyes was the white mask with a red dot on the forehead.

"Greetings Ahask. I have a proposition for you." Amon said, stepping into the room.

Ahask was not a fool, he knew exactly who this man was. He knew what he stood for in the city. Every newspaper wrote about him and what his group have done. He also knew what a golden opportunity looks like when it comes knocking.

Ahask dropped the feather to the ground, "You have my undivided attention Mr. Amon."

…

"Just were the hell where you made?" Jason questioned aloud as he inspected the small piston. The teen was sitting in his chair at home, trying to find out what exactly he found at the warehouse. The teen was drawn from his thoughts when the door knocked, "It's open." he called out.

The door quickly opened closed, the sounds of footsteps walked across the floor, "Hey babe." Akiko said as she wrapped her arms around the teen's neck and pressed her lips the back of his neck. "How was your day?" she asked, vaulting over the couch and sitting beside a smiling Jason.

The young hero put the tiny piston on the table and wrapped his arm around the girl , "Busted some Equalists's heads. Not much else, you?" he asked.

The girl shrugged, "Finished painting a few things." she said. Akiko looked down to the table and saw the small metal device that Jason was inspecting earlier. "What's this? Something for your web shooters?" she asked.

Jason plucked the metal from her fingers, Akiko responded by sticking her tongue at the teen. "Equilists where trying to take that. I've been looking for a way to tell where it came from." the teen explained while Akiko folded her legs up onto the couch. "I think it maybe from from one of the big companies. I've heard of a few hijackings, may be it." he explained.

Akiko gave a thoughtful look, "Tell you what, Asami knows a lot about stuff like this. I'll show it to her and ask if she knows what it goes through." she offered.

Jason smiled at the girl, "You don't need to do that. I'll figure something out." he said. The teen was flattered that Akiko wanted to help, but he didn't want her to get too involved with his double life.

Akiko shrugged, "What kind of girlfriend would I didn't help my boyfriend?" she asked, moving slightly closer to the teen and pecking his cheek.

Jason scratched the back of his nervously. "That reminds me, Pema...knows ." he stated, making Akiko's eyes widen.

"What! How? Did you tell her?" she asked accusingly.

Jason held his hands up in defense, "Hey it was before I knew you liked me back! It was like months ago. Even I forgot about it." he admitted, his eyes not being able to meet hers.

Akiko sighed, "Well what did you tell her? Like exactly." she asked in a demanding tone of voice. Jason gulped, he kinda spilled his guts that time, and hd knew that Akiko could tell when he lied to her by now.

The teen coughed into his fist, "Well...I said...that your kind...brave..." he started. He felt his cheeks flush deep red, he couldn't believe he was saying this, "Sympathetic...and...your one of..." he started.

Akiko moved closer, "Jason." she stated. The teen turned just in time for Akiko to press her lips onto Jason's. Akiko briefly pulled away, "Your a real sweet talker. Ya know that?" she asked with a sin surer looking smirk, making Jason's face turn red as she resumed the kiss.

The teen didn't expect the show of affection but didn't pull away at all. Aki slid her arms around his neck and brought their heads closer together, deepening the kiss in the process.

Jason put his hands on her hips, he was still timid at this but right now he felt bravery surge through him. He slowly ran his tongue over her lips, Akiko was startled by the sudden action but grew to like it in the span of milliseconds, "Aki." the teen muttered against her lips.

Her eyes opened and looked into Jason's blue ones, "Do...do you want to go to the Cherry Blossom festival with me?" he asked, his face bright red with nervousness.

Akiko felt her cheeks turn red as well, "But...my mom and dad will be there too." she said depressingly. She did want to go to the festival with Jason but the whole secret that was their relationship may be brought out.

Jason cupped her cheek, "Who cares? I like you. You like me. Tell 'em, they'll find out sooner or later anyway." he said, making Akiko smirk at the teen's simple answer for their problem.

"Always has a answer for everything." she said before letting out a sigh, "Fine. I'll tell them tonight." she said in defeat, laying on Jason's shoulder. The teen leaned back onto the couch, wrapping a arm around her to keep her in place, "It won't be so bad. Huang is super accepting and mom will probably be happy. Keito will make a fuss I'm sure." she started.

Jason pressed his lips into her red and black hair, "Worry about it later. Right now, act like a blanket please. I gotta head out in a few hours." he said, noting the time on the clock. Akiko's body felt like a blanket, being a firebender she had a natural warmth about her.

"Sure. But don't you dare drool on me." she stated with a fake threatening tone in her voice.

…

Jason pulled his Spider Suit on over his head as Akiko snored lightly on the couch. "God I wish I had a camera." the teen said aloud, noting Akiko's position on his couch. A arm reached to the floor while the other supported her head, Jason smiled as he walked over to the girl and planted a kiss on her forehead, "See ya tomorrow." he whispered to her.

The teen walked towards the window and opened it before jumping outside and shooting a webline to the side of one of the buildings. He swung down past a streetlamp and flew into the air before relaxing his webline, he fired another web to the edge of a building and pulled himself towards it, flying past the setting sun in the process.

…

The young hero ran along the wall of a building as he chased a purse snatcher, the teen fired a webline to the man's foot and pulled, making him trip and fall. "Now now don't feel down." Spider-Man started as he landed next to him, "Your like the fifth guy I've pulled that trick on." he said as he sprayed him with webbing to the ground.

The teen picked up the purse from the ground and turned as the woman who it belonged to ran up, "Thank you Spider-Man." she said gratefully as the masked hero handed her the bag.

The masked teen shrugged, "I'd be a pretty crappy hero if I didn't go around helping people who needed it. Be seeing ya." he said as he shot a web to the dove of a building and pulling back on the line. The teen went into the air and landed on the roof of the building, "At that makes it a bakers dozen. And it's not even ten o'clock yet, I'm on a roll." the teen said aloud as he flew through the air above rooftops.

_Just think, in three months time I'll be out of school and be a 24/7 hero. _The teen thought as he shot another web to a building and swung alongside it, _Maybe I can get a job at Future Industries or something, then again I'd probably be late half the time._ the teen inwardly admitted as he landed on the side of a building.

Just as the masked teen was about to jump off the wall, but the shadow passing over him got his attention. It was dark out by now, he immediately knew who the shadow with wings belonged to. Jason sprang off the building and down towards the streets below, he shot a webline at a lower building and used it as a slingshot and rocketed himself into the air after Vulture.

"Hello there birdbrain! I was wondering when you would show your beak." Spider-Man called out as he attached a webline to the man'a foot and pulled himself up to the Vulture.

Imagine his surprise when he saw it wasn't Ahask.

Instead there was a man in a helmet strapped around his head with goggles covering his eyes. He had a red dot on his helmet also, "Oh come on! There's more of you now?" Spider-Man asked with a whiney tone.

The man sneered as he swung his leg out that had the teen on it before he swung his razor sharp wing at him. Spider-Man countered by kicking the man away and falling towards the ground, "And you made me waste my Vulture quips! I spent all day making those!" he yelled as the man dived after him.

Spider-Man turned in midair and shot a web towards the buildings. The teen pulled the line down between his legs as he started to rise into the air, the teen's Spider Sense went off behind him, he turned to see the fake Vulture launch his razor wings at him.

"Man I hate those things!" Spider-Man muttered as he turned on his webline and shot each of the blades with webbing, knocking them out of the air. The fake Vulture charge through the air towards the teen, slicing his webline as he flew past.

Spider-Man let out a grunt if pain as he crashed onto a parked car. "Ohhhh, I knew there was a reason I hated using these things." the teen said as he sat up from the wreckage.

Spider-Man put his hands behind him and flipped back as more feathers impailed the spot where he landed. "Hey give me a break! I just crashed!" he yelled up to the man, flapping his wings in the air, hovering above the ground. "Or better yet-" he shot webs at the man's feet, "See for yourself!"

The teen turned and slammed the webbing down, bringing the man down to the concrete with a face plant. Spider-Man leapt over to the downed man and stuck him to the ground with his webbing, " Now where did you hatch from?" he asked as he looked over the man's wings.

The wings had the same design as Vulture's but where slightly modified for the new guy. _Ahask was the only one who made this suit, and he did escape the Vault bog with a bunch of other guys. But why does this guy have them?_ the teen questioned inwardly as he opened the back compartment.

"Son of a bitch." Spider-Man muttered as he pulled a tiny piston, identical to the one he had back at his apartment. "Equalists with Vulture tech. How could this get any-"

The teen's Spider Sense flared once more, causing the teen to turn in time to see the talons latch onto his shoulders and sink into his skin. Spider-Man let out a cry of pain as the metal pierced his skin, "Hey what's the big idea!" he questioned.

The teen looked down to see that he had left the ground and was quickly rising into the air. "Huh, Déjà Vu." the teen muttered as he grasped the talons and swung his legs forward, sending them into the face of the man trying to take him.

The teen fell back enough to see there was five men flying in the air with wing suits, talons, and razor sharp feathers. Spider-Man gulped, "Talk about a early bird special." The men dove down after the teen, firing their feathers down towards the masked hero as he fell.

Spider-Man turned quickly in midair and shot a webline to the side of a building. He dipped down to the streets below as the feathers sliced into the ground behind him. The teen sprayed a line to the edge of a building as he released his other web, taking him around it's side and out of the line of fire.

As the first man flew around the building, he didn't expect to be double kicked in the chest, "Alight I'm sorry but I can't hold it in anymore. I'm gonna pluck your guy's feathers." Spider-Man yelled out as he pounced off the first man and attached a webline to another one and pulled himself towards him.

The teen swiped his foot across the man's face before grasping his legs and summersaulting, throwing him into the side of a building with the momentum he had gained. He landed beside the man in the wall and stuck him in place like the first before more razored wings flew towards him .

"With all these feathers around I'm starting to get a feeling that this is turning into a deadly pillow fight." Spider-Man said aloud as he slid down the side of a building and into a narrow alleyway. Spider-Man landed on his feet and sprayed the top of the alley with webbing, giving him momentary cover.

"Ok I'm not gonna win this, it's like fighting six vultures at once. And as easy as that may sound it's just a matter of time until I get my goose cooked." The teen muttered to himself. One of the feathers cut trough the web, "And the oven is about to ding." he muttered as he looked for a place to hide.

The alley was completely empty. Except for...

"Oh damnit." the teen muttered.

The Vultures landed in the webbing and sliced their wings into the substance repetitively, tearing the threads apart. When they managed to cut a large enough hole in it, one man peered inside to the alleyway, only to find it empty.

"What! Where did he go?" one of them asked.

"You guys didn't see him come out either side if the alley did you?" Another asked as they landed beside the dumpster near one of the back doors.

"Never mind him. Let's get the others, and get back to Amon. We have to prepare for tomorrow." The apparent leader of the group stated, getting nods from the other members. They all spread their wings and rocketed into the air, going to retrieve their other members.

After slicing through the webbing, the two members of the Vultures returned with injuries back to their leader.

Meanwhile back in the alleyway, Jason popped the lid off the trash bin, "Too...many...odors...blluggg." the teen said, trying not to throw up in his mask. "Dear god above, what the hell do they put in these things? Never mind. I don't want to know." the teen said as he exited the dumpster.

"Ok, so to recap, Vulture is making things for the Equalists now. That's great, and they got something planned for tomorrow which I'm the only guy who can stop it!" The teen took a quick whiff of what he smelled like, "And I'm going to need to take a long shower tonight. Perfect." the teen muttered as he took to the air via web.

…

Ahask smiled from his position in the makeshift headquarters of the Equalits. The men had returned from their test flight and had gained complete control of their suits. He was pleasantly surprised when Amon came to him already with the materials needed to make the suits , all that was needed was the mind to create them.

Amon approached the man from behind, "The men reported that they had amazing ease with the controls but they ran into a snag." he explained as he stood beside the Vulture.

"Spider-Man?" he asked.

Amon nodded, "They sent him running. Next time we may not be as lucky though." he stated.

Ahask sighed, "I'll go with the men tomorrow. They could use some expertise teachings. Besides, I've been wanting a rematch with the wall crawler for a while now." he stated, making Amon smirk under his mask.

"I'll inform the men about this." he said as he started his walk towards the door. The masked man turned back to the older man, "Hope you enjoy yourself Ahask." he said before opening and closing the door.

Ahask smiled, he was enjoying himself. But he also wasn't a fool, the man dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a trigger mechanism. It's always best to have a contingency plan, after what happened with Hiroshi, he learned he could only trust one person.

Himself.

…

After about five showers with three different types of cleaning per each one, Jason finally exited the bathroom of his apartment while his costume washed in the sink with a thing of stain remover on the counter. "My water bill is going to be huge." the teen stated as he laid down on his couch.

He still needed to find a way to get the sink off his costume by tomorrow. He did not want Akiko's parents to find out about them when he saw them as her boyfriend. The teen felt his cheeks flush red slightly as he recalled the moment they shared a few hours prior.

He and Aki are taking it so slow that a lion turtle on land would be going faster than them, and Jason was completely fine with that. Akiko once said that he told Asami about what happened with their first 'moment' and made up something about him having attachment issues.

The teen let out a sigh, "I gotta get a suit or something for tomorrow." he said in realization. He didn't mind wearing suits, he wares one 24/7 after all, but he has a hard time wearing his Spidy suit under his dress suit.

"Hmm...wonder what Aki is gonna wear tomorrow...stop. Stop think naughty thoughts." Jason said aloud as he went to dry his suit out. _Stop, if Aki finds out I'm thinking like this I'll be hit. Probably somewhere that will seriously hurt...there we go_. Jason thought as he stuffed his suit in the bottom of his clothes basket and opened the door of his apartment.

…

Jason tugged on his tie as Pema looked proudly at her nephew, "So how do you feel? Snazzy?" she asked as Jason gave her a bored look. He came over to Air Temple Island to go with the Airbender family to the festival in the middle of the park.

"Like a chimp in a monkey suit." he stated.

Pema patted the teen's shoulder, "Come on Jason. You should be excited! I bet Akiko will be by your side all day with you wearing this." she said, gesturing to the nice suit the teen wore. Pema had gone out and purchased a new suit for the teen just for this occasion.

It had black jacket and pants with a crimson dress shirt, Jason told the woman again and again that he could get his own suit but she insisted on it. And it was comfortable...well it would be if Jason didn't have his spider suit on under it in case the Vultures showed up again.

"Thanks for the boost in confidence...but thank you for getting me this again." he said gratefully, making Pema smile brightly at the teen. Jason was incredibly nervous for today, part of him wished he could just wear his mask the whole time so he doesn't make a fool of himself.

The teen shook those thoughts away as he walked with Pema towards the exit, "So are they're any war stories about my mom going to this?" the teen pondered.

Ava and romantics never came up between the mother and son. Jason may not have known his father, but that didn't stop him from having questions about the man. Pema thought for a moment, "What...do you know about your father?" she asked timidly.

The teen shook his head, "Nothing. Except that mom liked him enough to...yeah I don't want to think about that part actually." The teen said with a disgusted face. "Look, we can talk about absentee parents later. If I'm alive that is." he stayed.

Pema laughed at the teen's worried expression, "You have nothing to worry about Jason. Just be yourself." she stated encouragingly as they exited the household.

_If I 'acted like myself' the police would show up to arrest me_. The teen thought as they approached Oogi. Jason stopped in his tracks when he saw the Airbending kids and Tenzin on his back. "No. No. No." he sated as he pointed to the bison.

The teen had done many death defying stunts in his life but he does not have a death wish. Pema gave Jason a skeptical look, "So your going to take the ferry, a cab, and probably a tram to the park?" she asked.

_Well I was going to web swing...but putting this new suit in a web pack doesn't sound all that smart_. The teen thought before sealing his pride and climbing onto Oogi from his tail and clinging to the side of the animal for dear life.

…

Republic City Central Park was beautiful. And that was without all the decorations, the park had all spring colors painted, hung, stapled, and bloomed into the entire park for the festival. Scattered throughout the park where games, stalls, and other activities for people to enjoy.

The Airbending family walked on the main sidewalk that went directly through the park. Jason was still a little rattled from his flight on Oogi but was starting to get out of it. "Jason you look like your going to throw up. We can stop for a moment if you want to." Tenzin stated.

Jason shook his head, "I'm fine, just not used to flying is all." he stated.

The teen kept his eyes and ears out for anything that may point to the Vultures. If they wanted to send a message, the park would be a good place, especially today. Jason had called Akiko earlier that morning and told her to meet him near the lake, after giving the family he had to go meet up with someone, and the kids asking who, he left to go see Akiko.

_Ok, don't be a dork. Don't be nervous, it's just her mom, dad, and brother. Nothing to be nervous about_. The teen thought nervously as he walked the path towards the lake. The teen swallowed, _Ok get ahold of yourself! You've fought crazy leotard wearing cat loving hunter man, big dumb as a pile of rocks Rhino, and taken down one of the most dangerous gangs in all if Republic City!_ The teen thought to himself.

"Jason." the teen leapt into the air, startled by Akiko's voice. When he landed, Akiko was trying her hardest to muffle her laughter at her boyfriend's reaction.

"D-don't do that! I-" Jason started when he turned. Jason's moth nearly fell open at the young woman, Akiko looked like a damn bombshell in his eyes. "I...I...I..."

Akiko was wearing a dress that was a beautiful shade of red. It was the same color as the roses that decorated the park, it had pedal like pattern, each one was a lighter shade of red than the dress and it stuck close to her figure, just passing her knees with the selves just hiding her shoulders.

Akiko's hair was out of her usual ponytail, with a few strands going over her shoulder, she bit down on her cherry colored lips as Jason gawked at her. "Well? Are ya going to just stand there or are you going to say something?" she asked.

Jason opened and then closed his mouth, "Aki. Your a knockout..." he muttered in surprise, making heat rise to her cheeks. "I-I mean it's not that you don't look this amazing all the time but-" Jason rambled before stopping.

Akiko gave a grin to the teen, "Oh really?" she asked while Jason's face turned pink.

"Y...Yeah..." he muttered.

Akiko smiled sweetly at the teen and took his hand in hers, "Come on. Mom and dad are waiting to see ya." she said, making Jason nearly freeze in his tracks. Akiko nearly slapped her own forehead, "Stop being a dork and come on. They're not going to kill you like all your other friends."

Jason coughed into his fist, "Well your my girlfriend. You haven't tried to kill me, in fact you've been pretty friendly with me." he stated, giving her hand a squeeze. "You showed that pretty clearly yesterday." he added.

Akiko blushed brightly at that, yet smiled a tiny bit, "Yeah...sorry I...did that." she said apologetically.

Jason flashed her a smile, "Hey...I'm not complaining." he stated boldly, "But if you want us to go...faster...I can try my hardest to keep up." he stated. He wanted to have him and Akiko go at a comfortable pace, they both had strong feelings for each other and they wanted to take time to find out what they all meant.

Akiko opened her mouth to speak, "Aki! There you are." the teens turned to see Keito with Huang and Kasuni. Keito walked towards the young couple, Jason freeze in his tracks along with Akiko at his stern look.

The older boy looked down at the young hero, Jason sweating like a pig in the sun. Please don't try to kill me, please don't try to kill me. Please don't kill me! the teen repeated in his head over and over.

Keito flashed a grin, "I'm messing with ya man." he said, patting Jason's shoulder, much to the teen's immense relief. Akiko slugged her brother in the arm, "Gah! Will you quit that!" he asked.

"That depends. Will you stop being mean?" Akiko shot back. Jason had seen the two siblings fight often enough to know that this will probably take a few minutes. The teen approached Huang and Kasuni, he suddenly felt nervous again.

The teen took a nervous gulp, "I'm sorry that we didn't-" he stated before Kasuni put a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Jason we understand." she said , making the teen look at both of them with surprise.

"Eh?"

"When me and Kasuni started seeing each other, we didn't say anything to Akiko or Keito. We understand privacy." he explained before leaning in close. "And your not the first guy to be scared by the girl's parents." he said, loud enough so only Jason could hear him and not his wife.

The teen couldn't help but chuckle at that, "So...no ' if you break my daughter's heart I'll break your arms' speech? No 'don't come home one minute later that her curfew or you won't live to see the sun rise'? Nothing?" he asked, his voice showing he was really asking.

Kasuni smirked, "No. Nothing like that Jason. You and Aki care for each other, that's clear as day, and we both see you make her happy." she said, looking over the teen at the girl bickering with her brother. The woman looked back to Jason and smiled, "Your both young adults. You are more than her anyway, we both trust that you'll both make the right decisions."

The teen out his finger on his chin, "And in gonna guess you don't want to hear exactly what these 'decisions' are?" he asked. He would want to be involved with his child's life too, but not know every single detail of their romantic life.

"Exactly." the parents said at the same time.

The teen smiled as Akiko came up and took his hand in her's, "Please take me away from him before I decide to throw another one of his shirts in the wash." she stated. Jason obliged and led her away from her family, giving them all a wave as they walked away.

Kasuni smiled as she saw her daughter scoot closer to her boyfriend, _What a nice young man, who knows? Maybe they'll have a nice normal little home with a few grandchildren of mine in a few years_.

…

Akiko sighed almost dreamily as she laid against Jason's shoulder on the park bench. They had taken part in the games and stalls that the festival provided, the two where both loving their time together and where content on spending the day like this. "Pema was right. It feels like I got a huge weight off my shoulders." Akiko stated.

Jason smiled, "Yea, no more secrets. Well on your side that is." he said.

Akiko warily glanced towards Jason, "Have you ever...thought of telling Pema and them? About Spidy and all that I mean." she asked seriously.

Jason let out a huff, "I have thought about it a lot. It would help with...things."

"Like Jinora's crush on Spidy?" she asked, a devilish smirk on her lips.

Jason groaned, "Craapppp. I forgot about that. But yea, heartbreaking aside it would be a huge frickin weight off my shoulders." he started. "But Tenzin is on the Council. Say I get unmasked and everyone finds out. He and his family would be arrested for harboring a fugitive." he explained.

Not to mention Pema may have a heart attack. the teen thought.

Akiko gave a small nod to his explanation, "Yea I get that. Besides," she wrapped her arm around his, "just goes me more time with you." she sad in almost a whisper, making the teen grin widely.

Jason turned to the girl, "Never thought of it like that." he stated, moving himself over so that both their sides touched.

Akiko lifted her head off the teen's shoulder and smirked, "Well maybe you should start thinking positive." she muttered, easing her hand up to his chin, tilting his head towards her level.

Jason started to lean in, "Maybe you could teach me a couple tricks." he whispered.

Akiko's head tilted slightly as her lips parted, "I'd be more than happy to." she answered as Jason's lips pressed down onto hers.

Not a moment passed before Jason felt his Spider Sense goo off. _Oh son of a-REALLY!_

The teen pulled away, "My spider sense is tingling." he said without thinking.

He and Akiko stayed silent for a second before bursting out in laughter of the statement, "O-O-Oh god, that was good. Did you like write that down?" Akiko asked as she tried to stop laughing.

Jason shook his head, "Not that one no."

The sound if a girl screaming snapped the teen out if it. Jason rose from the bench along with Akiko, the they both looked around to make sure no one was liking. Jason bent down onto his knees and spring into the tree above them. He dropped down a moment later in full Spidy outfit.

"Holy crap. That was quick." Akiko stated in surprise. Jason had to bite back a remark about that, when the mask goes on, his filter goes off. Before Jason could head towards the commotion, Akiko grasped his wrist, "Stay safe." she said.

Jason smiled under his mask, "Always." he stated before shooting a webline into a tree and swinging towards the commotion.

…

The Vultures had started their hunt, three men already snatched up benders who where showing off their skills to impress someone and where carrying them through the air. "The age if benders is over. This day of love shall for we be known as the first day we stood up for our kind!" the Equalits shouted as they flew through the air.

"Wow. You must have had a bad relationship." Spider-Man shouted as he rammed his feet into one of the men carrying a bender. The impact caused the Equalist to let go of the man in his talons, "Hey don't drop a egg, it was just a joke!"

Spider-Man sprayed a web towards the man and pulled him towards the teen. The two landed on the ground as the Equalist crashed into one of the surrounding trees, "You ok?" the teen asked the man, he nodded, "Then get outta here! Go!" he demanded.

The man ran off while the teen turned back in time to be scooped up by the Vulture, "You insufferable, scrawny, insignificant, waste of a insect!" the old man yelled to the young hero. The two flew high into the air, the trees of the forest began to look like small bushes from where they where.

"Your such a sweet talker, but I already got a date." Spider-Man cheekily replied as he shot a glob of webbing onto the man's face, making him release the teen. The young hero attached weblines to the lid man's chest and pulled him towards him, "I'm curious to who on earth decided have some eggs with you though."

The tee threw a fist into the man's gullet, knocking the wind out of him, before he could continue his attack, Jason's Spider Sense went off. The teen kicked off from the man as a blades wind sliced the air where his head was. Vulture looked at the Equalist who preformed the attack with rage, "You idiot you could have killed me!"

Jason shot a web to the Equalist's foot and turned in midair, "How about you two love birds sort it out." he said as he pulled on the web and fling to airborne Equalist into the Vulture.

The teen plummeted towards the forest below, thankfully the other flying Equalists where coming up from below. "Well guess birds a feather, really do fight together." the teen muttered as he twisted his body to avoid the feathers.

Spider-Man swung his fist to the side of one of the men's heads, the teen flipped his body forward and planted his feet on the man's back and jumped off the man's back towards another.

"Will someone peg this scrawny brat!" one of them yelled out.

Spider-Man jabbed another flying Equalist in the face, "Hey I may be scrawny, but I'm not getting my ass kicked am I?" he yelled back. The park wasn't too far down now, the teen quickly thought up a plan, "Hey eggheads! Bet you can fly about as good as you can fight!" he yelled as he dropped down to the park trees below.

The flyers dove down after the teen without a second thought.

Spider-Man swung throw the trees, shooting one web after another as the Equalists chased after him. The teen peered over his shoulder to see three of them right on his tail. The teen relased his webline and sprayed his web shooters out in front of him, making a large web between the trees.

Spider-Man fired two webs up to the tops of the trees and pulled himself up over the web. The pursuers weren't as fast and ran right into the web. The substance wrapped around the men as the weaker lines I the trees snapped and ensnared them as they landed on the ground. Hard.

"Catches thieves, just like flies. God they need to put that on the radio." Jason muttered as he landed on a tree branch above the men. Spider Sense blaring, the young hero leapt off the tree as a feather cut through the branch.

The Vulture swept up Spider-Man in midair, grasping him with his hands as they once again flew high into the air. "Now with those idiots out of the way, let's see you land with no buildings to break your fall!" he menacingly declared as they flees high above the city.

"Idiots? Aren't you the one you hired them or whatever?" Spider-Man questioned. He assumed that Amon had given them the men as a sign of good will or something.

"What? No! I about trust them as much as I do you! Amon will just betray me in the end, so I thought may as well have some fun before that happens!" Vulture explained.

"You have a very low opinion of people don't you?" The teen asked. _So he knew from the start that he couldn't trust the guy. Well he's smarter than I am in that department then. But that also means he probably has a contingency plan_. the teen surmised.

Spider-Man looked over Vulture, _He'd want it close, so at any moment he could turn the tables_. The teen spotted a cylinder with a cap on the end, _Bingo!_

"Well as much as I enjoy the view," Jason attached a web to the cylinder, "I should be going. Till next time beak breath!" he said, ramming his legs into the man's chest, making him release the teen and fall down towards the park below. Taking the cylinder with him.

Jason turned in midair and just realized how high up he really was, "I seriously need to start thinking ahead!" he yelled as he dropped through the air. _Think! Think! Think! Think! No way I can swing from anything from this height! _

"I take back all those times I said swinging was better than flying! Flying is way safer!" he yelled out. _Wait, FLYING! That's it!_

The teen put the cylinder on his side and stuck it to him. Spider-Man spun himself in midair and started weaving a web, "Please work. Please work. I do not want to end up like street gum." the teen muttered. He waved the webbing wide, but not firm, he attached four lines to each corner of the square web and released it into the air

The teen stopped abruptly in the air before drifting down towards the trees, "Holy crap it really worked." Jason muttered as he drifted over the lake. The moment didn't last, one of the Vultures sent a feather through the web and made the teen fall into the lake.

The teen broke through the surface of the lake a moment after crashing into the water, "Great. Now I'm wet." The teen sighed as he fired a web to the shore and pulled himself towards it. The teen hopped ashore and shook the water off him, a small crowed had begun to gather on the side of the lake as Spider-Man took the device off his side.

Akiko was near the front of the crowd, watching with wonder at what the hell Jason was planning.

The teen threw off the cap, showing a red button on the top of it, "Why is it always a red button? It can't be blue or something?" the teen wondered aloud. The Vulture squad where flying over the lake at full speed, "Please work. Just please work."

The teen pressed down on the button, for a moment, biting happened to the Equalists, just before Jason could curse out Ahask, the packs on the men's backs exploded a tiny but, sending them crashing into the lake.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the men floated to the surface if the lake unharmed. The teen covered them with a net of webbing and pulled them ashore, "Consider this payback for making me have to hide in a frickin dumpster last time!" he called out as he leapt up into the trees and swung away from the crowd.

…

Jason brushed the last few twigs out of his suit as he walked along the path towards the lake where he last saw Akiko. "I swear this is the absolute last time I hide my clothes in a damn tree." he muttered as he approached the site where he left the Equalists. The sight of red hair and dress stood out from the crowd, Jason came up from behind and tapped her shoulder.

Akiko spun around and wrapped the teen up in a hug, "Do you do this to guys who tap your shoulder or am I just special?" the teen asked as he returned the hug.

Akiko pulled away and lord at Jason with awe, "You where like...higher than the airships and you just...did you..." she asked, not sure how to phrase it.

"Better ya don't ask. Trust me." he said, putting her questions away for now. The teen slid his hand down to hers and entwined their fingers. "I've had enough action today. Come on, let's go enjoy the rest of the day." he stated as he pulled her away from the crowd with no protest.

After the two had gotten far enough away from the crowd, Jason turned to face Akiko, "Akiko, I've been meaning to say something to you. Something that I should have said long ago." he stated, making Akiko's face turn pink slightly.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

Jason leaned in close to her ear, "Akiko Rupa..." he dug into his coat pocket, "Will you always and forever be my Cherry Blossom?" he asked, pulling the small flower out if his pocket unharmed.

Asking someone to be another's Cherry Blossom was asking that will they be their one special person on the Cherry Blossom festival day. It's saved for two people who deeply care for one another as well.

Akiko smiled widely at the teen, "It would be a honor Jason O-rou." she stated, putting her hands on the sides of his face and smashing their lips together.

Jason smiled against the soft lips of the girl, Ahask may have gotten away, but right now, all he cared about was Akiko. She pulled away and let Jason put the flower in her hair, "There we go. Beautiful." he stated.

"Awwwww." The two teens both jumped at the sound of Jinora's cooing. The three Airbendibg children sat on a branch above them, all with cheeky grins on their faces .

"Crap." Jason stated. Akiko could only silently agree as they where bombarded with questions and statements from the small children.

…

"Are you sure about this sir? From what I heard the guys a hero." the man in front of Tarrock's desk stated.

He had dark skin, shaven head, goatee, and was incredibly big on the sting side. He easily towered over the councilman himself in his chair, a small wall waterfall behind him. He also had black Kung fu pants on, along with a yellow tee short that went over his massive body.

"Rest assured, you'll be doing the city a great service for this. I'm well aware of you and your partner's work, and as two of Republic City's true heroes, I couldn't think of anyone better to handle this." Tarrlock stated.

The man sighed, "Alright. Give us a while. We'll take care of the city's problem." he said, making Tarrlock smile as he stood from his seat.

The man still towered over him but that didn't deter him, "Excellent Mr. Cage. I'll pay once the job is done." he said, shaking the man's hand. The man smiled as he shook the man's hand, the Heroes for Hire have a new job.

**AN: The Heroes for Hire ladies and gentlemen! Yes a few people suspected and their suspicions where proven correct. And they may not be the last to appear in this, as to who else appears, well wait and see.**

**Thank you guys for reading, I hope you've all enjoyed the chapter, as always I ask that you guys leave a review to show support for this story, that and I love getting reviews.**

**Until next time, see you guys later :)**


	22. Chapter 22

Heroes for Hire

Jason looked over his article once more before letting out a sigh, "Crap. Misspelled 'explosion' on this one." the teen muttered as he crinkled up the paper and tossed it in the waste bin. He was trying to type up his story for the Vulture, but he was still tired from trying to find original old Vulture all last night.

Whitney gave the teen a sympathetic look, "Kid did you even get any sleep last night?" she asked. Jason had bags under his eyes and had been yawning almost all day, the telltale signs of staying up all night.

That and his coffee addiction but that was nothing new.

"Couldn't sleep at all last night Whitney. And the city's weird factor has been down lately so I've been writing this article all night trying to make it as good as I can." he explained. The 'leads' that usually led the teen to Equalists or triad hideouts where starting to dry up and the teen was clambering to try and find other ways to find the city's criminals.

Whitney patted the teen's head, "Don't get so down about it. It's a slow news week. Aside from the Cherry Blossom thing not much has come up." she stated.

Jason sighed, "I'm just really bored I guess. I'm usually busy with schoolwork or this." he explained. The teen had been managing to keep his grades from dropping so far but weren't exactly getting better.

Whitney thought for a moment, "If your looking for something to work on I may know someone. Give me a few days and I'll introduce you to him." she said, getting the teen to brighten up.

"Thanks Whitney. I appreciate it." he said gratefully.

The woman shrugged with a smile, "Hey I get it, living in your own is expensive. Just when you meet my friend, don't joke around with him. He's serious about his work." she stated seriously.

Jason could only nod, "Hey Jason." the two turned as Stan approached the reporter's desk, "Got a minute? I think I got something for ya." he said, making the teen stand up from his desk.

"What's up?" the teen asked, trying not to sound so pleading.

"I got a tip this morning that Councilmen Tarrlock hired someone to take out Spider-Man." he says, naming both the teen and Whitney's face fall. _I'm seriously starting to regret pissing off that guy._ the teen thought to himself.

"You mean like a frickin hit? God I knew the guy hated Spidy but still, seriously?" Whitney asked as she looked at the editor and chief. She liked Spidy, hell half of the city loved the wall crawled for what he's done. But Tarrlock has made a public stand against the vigilante along with the chief of police.

Stan could only nod, "Wait until you hear about who he gave the job to. The Heroes for Hire." he said. The man only got confused looks from the teen and reporter.

"Who's that?" Jason asked simply. He'd never heard of the group before, and he was pretty sure he would remember a name such as that.

"That's what your going to find out." Stan stated as he dug into his picket and pulled out a note, "Here's their address. Go to their office tomorrow and go ask some questions." he said, getting a nod from the teen.

_Maybe I should take a cab. Better chance I don't get attacked when I swing over there_. The teen thought as he headed towards the elevator. Jason let out a sigh, "This is going to be a long day I can just tell." the teen muttered as he descended the building.

…

"The Heroes for Hire? Seriously?" Lee asked as he walked with Jason towards the school. The firebender and teen ran into each other on their way to school, Jason had told him of his newest assignment, much to Lee's surprise.

The teen nodded, "Yep. I swear this place gets more and more crazy everyday." he said, recalling everything that's happened this school year. _Well it's better than this all happening in my freshmen year._ the teen thought. "So what's the news on the Pro-bending circuit? I haven't been listening to the sports network recently."

The firebender thought for a moment, "Well there's this new team coming on the circuit called the Fire Ferrets next time it starts up. Though there kind of the under dogs." he examined as he recalled the newscast. "Hey how are you out of the news world? You working at the damn newspaper man." he stated.

The teen shrugged, "Weird stuff. Like men who can fly with suits and living lightbulbs. Unless one of the plates on the team is a actual fire ferret I'm left out of the loop." he explained. The teen usually missed a lot of news because of his work and it was starting to get to him.

If only there was some way he could constantly check the news from his pocket or something. Ah well, maybe one day.

"Maybe I'll go to a few matches when they start. Besides, I like the underdogs." he stated. Especially since I'm the poster child for them.

Lee smirked, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me." he stated, making the teen raise a eyebrow.

"I feel that I should take done offense to that." he stated blankly.

Lee waved his hands, "No No! I didn't mean it like that!" he said honestly. "It's just...well last year me and Xang kinda...well we where jerks. And we're both really sorry for that. And it sucks that we where didn't...you know." he trailed off.

Jason gave the firebender a pat on the shoulder, "Hey forget about it. It's all in the past." he stated before someone jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Hey there handsome." Akiko whispered into the teen's ear, making both their faces flush. The two had 'revealed' their relationship to their friends, though it was barely a shock for anyone who hadn't seen the way the two had interacted with each other.

Though it was nice to see people do a double take when they saw the two holding hands in the halls.

"Hey yourself. Now please, get off." he asked, making Akiko let go and instead wrap her arm around his, "Much better." he stated.

Akiko glanced at the two boys, "So what's going on with you guys?" she asked.

Lee shrugged, "Pro-Bending, last year, guys being hired to hunt down Spidy. Nothing much." he said nonchalantly, unintentionally making Akiko look at Jason funny.

The teen nervously chuckled, "Yep...normal stuff."

…

"Since when odds normal involve people tying to kill you?" Akiko asked in a almost harsh whisper. Her and Jason went to the library for their study hall period and Akiko was a bit perturbed at the teen right now.

Jason gave her a look, "Can you name one day that since you found out that someone hasn't tried to kill me?" he asked as he finished another paragraph of his book. Akiko didn't reply, making the teen close the book and turn to her, "Look, I'm going there in my nerd clothes later, I'll find their weaknesses and bam! I hit them then."

Akiko raised a eye, "Nerd clothes?" she asked skeptically.

"Civilian, normal, non tight clothes. Take your pick. Point is, I'll find out what their plans are and find a way around them." he explained.

Akiko couldn't help but agree with the plan, "So what do you know about these guys?" she asked.

The teen scratched the back of his head, "They call themselves the Heroes for Hire." he said, making Akiko look at him blankly. The teen gave her one back, "Yes that's what they call themselves." he replied before she could ask.

"I'm more concerned that people calling themselves heroes are willing to fight you." she stated. Jason nodded in agreement on that.

…

Jason stepped out of the taxi in front of the small business. And he really did mean small, the place was two stories tall, and the upper floor looked like a apartment where someone lived in, "Well this is sorta a good sign I guess." the teen muttered as he approached the front door.

Jason entered the building and came to a small reception area, it was empty. "Um. Excuse me?" he called out, "I'm Jason O-rou, from the Marvel? We...talked on the phone?" he said aloud as he looked for someone in the small room.

"Sorry kid, our secretary is taking today off." The teen nearly leapt to the ceiling at the voice behind him. Jason turned to come face to chest with the man who spoke. He looked up to see a man with a yellow shirt bald head, and goatee with dark skin. "I gotta admit, I expected someone older." he stated.

"Hey I'll be seventeen in a month...ok yea that made a better point in my head." The teen said, only now realizing how dumb his comeback sounded. "Jason O-rou, reporter of the daily Marvel." he introduced himself, outstretching a hand.

The man smiled and took the teen's hand, "Luke Cage. Head of Heroes for Hire." he said, shaking the teen's hand. "You here to interview us for the Spider-Man thing?" he asked.

Jason's nodded, "Our inquiring readers and all that." he said simply.

Luke opened the four to the back room and ushered the teen inside. "Well first you need to understand that this is purely business." the man started as the teen entered. The room was overly simple, a desk in the center with two charges and a door bending the desk, presumably leading upstairs.

"Your a legitimate business? Healthcare and all?" The teen asked with mild surprise.

Luke nodded as the two sat down in the chairs, "Well not the finer points but yes. We're licensed private investigators for the city. Although we're more special than most." he explained to the teen.

_And I'm just learning that there's a way I can get paid for what I do? Well that's great. _The teen thought sarcastically, "We? As in a partner?" the teen asked. He was just planning on it being Cage but he was sure he could handle two men.

Luke nodded, "My partner Iron Fist is attending another matter right now so he couldn't make it for this I'm afraid." he explained.

_Iron Fist?_ "They way your selling yourselves makes it sound like you have powers if your own." the teen stated.

"We do." Luke said, making the teen's eyes widen. To prove his point, Cage lifted the entire desk up from it's position with a single hand. Much to Jason's shock, "Heh, man I love seeing that face that they make." Luke said smiling as he put the desk back down.

Jason regained his composure, "How...how..." the teen was too shocked. There was someone else in the city that had powers, and used them to help people.

"Look you gotta understand, I didn't hang out with the best crowd when I was a kid. I made a lot of mistakes, I didn't realize later on that my choices had consequences." He started. Jason felt like he could relate with him on that, "I volunteered for a government experiment. Made me like...this. Only this time I used my powers to help folks."

Jason felt like this was all too familiar, "Wait, then why are you not in the military or something? It being a government experiment and all." he asked.

Luke shrugged, "Well the powers didn't come until later, and when the government came a knocking I caught them off with my human rights and legal aid." he explained.

Jason didn't even notice him taking out his writing pad until he looked down to speak check it. "So was your partner another test for the same experiment or what?"

Like shook his head, "Nah, me and Iron Fist met when he helped me with a Triple Threat problem. He said 'Our destines where forever linked' and that he'd be my partner from now on. He's my one of my best friends now." the man said proudly.

Jason smiled as well, it would be nice if Xang could be his sidekick or something. "So why do you charge for your services? No offense, but that seemed a little mercenary like." he stated.

"None taken. I just think why not use my natural gifts to help people, like the Metalbending police. In fact me and them work together on a few occasions." he said as he thought back to the few occasions he did work with the police.

_And the police like him! You got to be joking!_ The teen thought in frustration, "Ok. One last question, don't you feel bad about going after Spider-Man?" he asked as he stood.

Luke shook his head, "I don't know the man. But I know what he's doing is breaking the law. Now he may be doing good, or he may be doing bad, either way it's against the law." he stated.

Jason could understand that idea, heck if he hadn't settled on his 'with great power' ideal he may live by that sentiment. "Thanks for your time Mr. Cage." he said, shaking the man's hand once more before leaving.

…

Spider-Man swung around a corner, releasing his line as he turned to his left. The Equalists had been laying low since the Vulture incident and hadn't been making any power plays since. Jason did get a tip from Wei about a Wasp dealer.

The drug trade was new to Republic City and the police was having a hard time catching up with the flow of narcotics. So Jason figured he'd he lend a hand.

The teen shot a web to a building's edge, swinging towards a antenna before letting go. The teen grasped the metal and spun around it horizontally before letting go and going over rooftops. Spider-Man attached two weblines to a building's ledge as he nearly flew over it.

The teen let go of the webs as the pulled him to the wall. Spider-Man started to crawl down the large open alley, he sprayed a net across the space between walls and made a hammock that he jumped onto.

_Now I play the worst game ever invented. The waiting game._ The teen thought as he flows his legs over one another and put his arms behind his head. The teen knew that patience was a virtue and all but there's no excuse for boredom.

_Guess I should rethink about this whole Heroes for Hire thing. They must mean well, but they are going to try and bring me down. But does that give me any right to fight back if they're actually with the city?_The teen inwardly debated.

"And not to mention I have no idea what Iron Fist can do. And who knows what else Cage can do." the teen said as he ran a hand over his face. "Why can't we just get along? I mean they're heroes, I'm a hero. Well I'm trying to be."

The teen laid in his makeshift hammock for about half a hour, nearly falling asleep half a dozen times, until finally a car pulled into the alley. Jason looked down from his position and saw a man exit the car and walk to the back doors, he opened the doors and sat in the back, waiting.

As much as I want to, I just can't web the guy up for just sitting around. I gotta wait for someone to buy from him. Crap, more waiting around, the young hero inwardly groaned.

"Ah, my favorite customer." _Well that was quick._ The teen thought as the man hopped out of the car to greet his client. The customer was wearing a hoodie, covering his face and features so that he couldn't be made out from a distance.

The hooded customer looked around quickly, "Yeah yeah, look can you just give me the stuff?" he asked harshly. Clearly on edge for some reason.

The dealer held up his hands, "Alight, straight to business. So the usual?" he asked, getting a nod from the customer. Jason creaked to the bottom of his hammock, slowly descending to the ground from a web.

The man leaned into the back if his car and emerged with a vial of Wasp. The hooded customer pulled a fold of Yuans from his pocket and handed it to the man. The man gave him the vial. The man undid the lid on the vial and brought it towards his nose. "You know that crap will kill you right?" Spider-Man asked from above.

The two looked up startled at the young hero. The dealer was the first to react and pulled water from his seal sack and slashed it towards the teen. Jason swung off the web to the wall of the alley as the dealer closed his fours and ran for the driver's side.

"Quick Spider-Lad! Take care of the driver! Oh wait, I don't have a sidekick." The teen joked as he dug a Spider Tracer out if his pocket and threw it to the car as it began to drive away. The spider landed on the bumper as it exited the alley at high speed, "Alight buddy let's-" he turned to see the nodded buyer sprinting towards the other end of the alley, "-not do anything rash."

The teen shot a web to the rooftop of the building and pulled down on it before letting it slack, shooting him to the rooftop. The teen ran to the other end of the roof and looked down, the buyer was heading for the streets. Spider-Man vaulted over the side and sealed off the alley with a wall of webbing, trapping the buyer.

The young hero landed as the buyer turned away from the web, the teen quickly closed the distance between the two and grabbed his collar, hoisting the buyer into the air. "Now look just give me the vial and I'll-" he started as the hood fell back.

_Oh my god..._

The buyer was Lee, "L-look...kid, you are way too young to-" he started but his Spider Sense went off in his head. Lee drew his fist back and caught it aflame before launching it against the hero, blasting the hero back into a wall. The teen's costume was lightly roasted and his left gauntlet was fried to bits, "I didn't know that gas trucks hit that hard..." Jason muttered as Lee bolted down the alley.

The teen slowly for up, minding the small burns that he got before looking back to where Lee headed off. "What the hell are you thinking Lee?" the teen muttered before shooting webs to either wall of the alley and shooting himself into the air.

…

The teen looked over his burned suit with frustration, he had a separate suit on hand that he had just for this situation but he was mad about the damaged gauntlet if anything. The opening of his door made the teen jump to hide his suit but stopped when he saw it was Akiko, "Hey." he said simply she entered the apartment.

Akiko hopped over the couch and sat beside Jason, giving the teen a peck on the cheek, "Hey yourself." she said happily. Akiko's eyes drifted to the costume and grimaced, "What the heck happened?" she asked as she took the suit in her hands.

Jason sighed, "It's...a long story." the teen stated sadly.

Akiko could tell she wasn't going to get anywhere this way, so she decoded to try another approach. She sat up and clasped her hands together, "Ok then, you can tell me it while I cook." she said, making the teen do a double take.

Akiko was not a standard stay at home and cook for the man kind of girl. That way had practically died out as the years carried on, Akiko was one of the modern women, and Jason was happy for her. But cooking? Akiko? The girl who refused sternly not to join home ec?

"As in using head to make food that will be used for human consumption?" Jason asked as he stood, "Do you feel warm? Do you see anything that's not there?" he asked jokingly, putting a hand over her forehead just for kicks.

Akiko laughed, "Yes. I am fine. I just want to cook."

"There it is again. Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?" the teen joked, getting a light slug to the arm by her.

Akiko walked into the kitchen with Jason right behind her, "Your acting like a lost cat fallowing me around. You can stop." she stated a matter of factly.

"Well I don't want my kitchen to burn down in smoke." His mind flashed back to his nightmare he had almost weekly. The teen shook his head, putting the thought in the recesses of his mind for now, "But I trust you. Just...don't break anything? Kitchen stuff is expensive." he explained.

Akiko gave him a smile, "Shut up and tell me what's on your mind." she said nudging him.

"You realize that it's impossible for me to shut up and say something right?" he asked with a grin as he rested his arm on the kitchen counter as Akiko rummaged through the cupboards.

"Just tell me. You know your going to tell me so just say it." she satiated as she got some noodles out and began searching for a bowl.

Jason sighed, he did know he was going to have to tell her. "Well these Heroes for Hire guys actually have superpowers for one." he said, making Akiko stop her search and peek over the the cupboard door.

"Oh...so any idea how to stop them?" she asked as she went back to searching.

Jason shook his head, "It's not that simple. These guys are doing good for the city, they're helping people. And not only that they're a legit business, they make their livelihoods off what they do." he explained.

Akiko smirked, "Maybe you should see if they're hiring." she stated.

Jason shot her a look as she put the noodles in the bowl she found, "Those guys aside. That's not what's under my skin tonight." he said. "Wei pointed me to a Wasp dealer and I waited for him tonight."

Akiko thought for a second, "Wasp...isn't that a drug? Like desert juices?" she asked. Desert Juices where actually alcoholic drinks that where sold in bars around the city. Rumor had it that Sokka of Team Avatar founded the juice himself.

"Yeah...and I saw Lee buying some." he said solemnly, nearly causing Akiko to drop the bowl. The teen rushed over and kept the plastic from falling, preventing a mess.

"What..." Akiko said in pure shock. Lee was one of the last people she'd suspect to do drugs. "Wait us that why-"

"My costume is extra crispy? Yep." he said as Akiko ran a hand down her face. Jason nearly threw one of their friends in jail, he may have been doing something illegal but still.

"So...what do we do now?" she asked, unsure of how to even act towards the firebender tomorrow.

"Act natural. I'll talk to him after school about it." he said, temporarily putting her fears at ease. "Now come on, let me help ya out here. I would t be a good boyfriend if I let you do all the cooking." The teen said with a smile as he rolled his sleeves up to help.

After boiling the water and adding a few more ingredients, the two sat down on the couch to enjoy their small meal. "Ok. Your a amazing cook Aki." the teen said before slurping some of the noodles.

Akiko smiled contently as she went for another forkful, "My dad is awesome with food. You seriously need to come in we again and grab a bite. You'll die from how amazing it tastes." she stated.

Jason could definitely get behind that idea.

As the two sat and ate, Jason felt a sense of nostalgia go over him. The teen chuckled out of the blue, making Akiko raise a eye at the teen, "What's so funny?" she asked.

Jason just smiled, "It's just...me and my mom used to have these dinners in front of the radio. Sometimes we'd listen to music, talk shows, news, anything." he said, recalling the memories that he shared with Ava in the years past.

Akiko looked at the teen sadly, she moved herself closer to the teen. "You know...I wish I could have met her." she said honestly. Jason looked down but smiled nonetheless, "You know you never talk about her..." she trailed off.

Jason leaned back in the couch, "I think about her all the time...but that brings nightmares." he explained. The teen put his plate down on the table.

Akiko pulled her legs up onto the couch, "You want to talk about it?" she asked. Jason did, he honestly did want to talk to her about it, but he also didn't want to worry the girl to death.

"Nah. Doesn't happen much...but I like to think...that you two wily get along great." he said, making the girl smile. Akiko laid her head against his shoulder, wrapping one arm around him while he did the same.

Jason pecked Aki's cheek, "You two would so look through my baby pictures." he muttered, making the girl laugh.

"Oh my god I so want to see what you where like before your powers." she said smiling, "Would you have even talked to me?" she asked.

The teen slid his hand up to her cheek, "Probably. But something tells me you would have made the first move." he said, rubbing a his thumb along her cheek.

Akiko smiled as she turned so their bodies where facing each other, "So. Are you going to make a move, or should I?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck as she sat over him.

Jason coyly smiled as he inched his face closer to her's, "Just kiss me." he said as he pressed his lips to hers. Akiko smiled against his lips as she tightened her grip on him. Jason wrapped a his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Akiko tilted her head to the right before she started to play with the teen's upper lip. Jason gently closed his mouth around her lower flesh, lightly pulling at it and starting a game of cat and mouse with their lips.

Jason felt the girl's arms tighten around his neck and try to pull the teen closer to her. He complied and did something new and daring. Akiko let out a quiet moan as Jason gently ran his tongue over her soft, smooth lips. Giving a small lick to the sweet flesh on occasion as he did so.

Akiko pulled away slightly, drawing the teen in to trap his lips with hers. She started to lean more onto him without realizing, trying to get ontop of him.

The two's cheeks turned red, this was brand new territory for them and they both where nervous about where this possibly could go.

Reluctantly, Akiko pulled away first when she felt her heart running a mini marathon in her chest. Akiko looked down onto the teen, her arms on his shoulders as Jason held her by her waist, "S-S-Sorry." Jason mumbled out apologetically to the girl with his face red as hers.

Akiko flashed a small smile, "It's ok...I liked that." she said timidly, avoiding his eye concoct with him. Jason doing the same but with a goofy grin on his face which Akiko caught sight of and shared.

"So...where's those noodles?" Jason asked, looking for where he put his food.

Akiko slugged him playfully.

…

Jason walked to school alone, he wanted to find Lee and talk to him. He came up with a excuse that he was fallowing Spider-Man and saw the whole thing, "Thank god I managed to patch my costume up, last thing I need is the bad guys seeing me like that." the teen muttered to himself.

His one gauntlet was still damaged, it was the one wires to the police scanner, his unharmed one is the one that managed his Spider Tracers. So he could still find the dealer from last night, "Help! Please Spider-Man help!"

Jason facepalmed, "Not one day. I just can't get a break can I?" the teen asked himself as he checked to make sure the street was clear before jumping atop the nearest building and changing into his Spidy suit. The teen threw his backpack around his shoulders with his clothes inside and shot a web to the building across the way and swung towards the voice.

Spider-Man swung around the side of a building before landing on a rooftop, looking for the scourge if the disturbance. _If this isn't a supervillan I swear I'm gonna_- the teen thought before his Spider Sense went off. The teen turned around in time to get hit by a powerful right hook, sending him over the space between buildings.

Jason felt like he just got his brain slapped upside his head. If that was even scientifically possible, "Uggghhhhh, what is it with me getting hit by what feels like trucks lately?" the teen asked as he sat up while cradling his head.

In front of the teen stood a man with a yellow bandanna covering his hair and eyes with a green jumpsuit with a sash. On the center of the suit was a dragon on it, the man looked incredibly fit for someone his size. He looked down at the teen with white mask eyes, "Spider-Man, surrender now and this will be much easier for you." he stated.

Spider-Man slowly stood, "Yeah, I figured that out the minute I started doing all this. But nah, I'll pass." the teen said, shaking his head clear of his pain. "By the way, Iron Fist I presume?" he asked, getting a nod from the man.

_Great_. Jason thought as he sprayed webbing to the man'a feet. Iron Fist leapt over the webbing and went I to a full sprint towards the young hero, "Look-" Spider-Man started, dogging a jab to his face, "I don't wanna-" he leapt above a swipe at his legs, "Fight you! I just-" he was stopped when the man's fist began to glow yellow. "-want to talk." he muttered.

Iron Fist charged towards the teen, instead of throwing his glowing fist, he swiped his leg vertically at the teen. Spider-Man flipped over the man, Iron Fist turned his body and drew his fist back while Jason was airborne, he threw the fist out and connected it to the teen's gullet, sending him into the leg of a water tower.

_Ok that felt like a small trolly car. _The teen thought as he got up once more staggering, "I'll admit, you are determined, I'm sorry that we had to meet this way." Iron Fist said as he traded himself into a fighting stance.

"Likewise." Spider-Man said as he put his foot against the leg of the tower and pushed off, throwing a jab to Iron Fist's face. The teen fallowed up with a knee to the gut then spun kicked him with his left leg and skidded the man back.

The teen sprayed the man with globs of webbing as he clutched his gut, "Now stay here. And please, no more trying to take me in." the teen said scoldingly.

"What nggghh, is this?" the man asked as he tried to get out of the webbing.

"Relax yellow belt. That will come off in time. Just be glad I didn't get it in your hair, that's hard to-" the teen's Spider Sense blared off in his head pointing behind him. Spider-Man turned and threw out a fist right into Luke Cage's chin. The teen withdrew his throbbing hand, "Sonofva- that hurt!" The teen hissed as he waved his hand back and forth.

Cafe grapes the hem of the teen's backpack, "Ok. This was just a job before, but now I'm interested. Spill it short stuff, what's your deal?" he stated, noting the height of the hero.

"Hey forgive me if I'm not a hulking giant! And from where I come from size doesn't matter." Jason stated before he slipped out of his bags straps and coming to a crouch on the ground. The teen did a backwards sweep with his legs at the man's, knocking the man's feet out from under him.

The teen leapt back towards the water tower as he webbed the man to the ground, "Now look, I just want to know why Tarrlock has it out for me. I don't want to fight you guys." the teen explained.

Cage gripped the webbing and tore it off him before moving over to Iron Fist, "First off, we're obligated to protect our clients identities. Second, what's a kid like you going around in tights fighting crime?" he asked.

"Uhhh, Cage?" Iron Fist asked. The man tore the webbing off him as well, "Thanks."

Spider-Man laid his back against the water tower, "Well it may help me pinpoint whose been got it out for me especially. I mean I'm not the most popular but still. And second...well I read that article about you guys. We're both kind of in the same boat." he explained, rubbing the back of his head.

Luke and Iron Fist shared a look, "But...how old are you anyway?" he asked the teen.

"Sixteen."

"Your a sixteen year old going after dangerous people. Look I'm less concerned about bringing you in and more so about you putting yourself in danger." Luke explained.

Iron Fist nodded in agreement, "Spider-Man, you may call yourself a adult. But you are not yet at that stage of life, you need not to work like this. It's better if you let us handle this." he chimed in.

Spider-Man looked down, "I can't do that. I...lost someone close to me because I didn't use my powers when I could have. They're dead because I didn't know that with great power comes great responsibility. And I'm not going to give up because it's bad for my health." the teen stated stubbornly as he dropped to the roof, feeling that it was safe now.

Luke gave the teen a sympathetic look, he respected that he decided to use his powers like he has been. But there was still the fact that he wasn't even eighteen yet and he was doing this. Cafe knew that this line of work isn't all it's cracked up to be, _But then again, he probably knows that. _the man thought once he remembered back to all the reports he heard about Spider-Man.

Iron Fist gave a look to his partner, "Your life is your own. It's not out place to tell you how you spend it." he said before bowing to the teen. "Please, forgive my rash behavior, if we had known your intentions we never would have fought you." he said.

Spider-Man merely shrugged, "Eh no problem. If it makes ya feel any better the police try to take me in all the time. Though granted they can't make their fingers glow." he added as Iron Fist rose. Jason thought for a minute, these guys could be a incredible hero team if they saw what the difference was between being a Hero for Hire, and what a real hero is.

"Tell ya what. I've been trying to track down where the Triads are getting drugs from. I got a lead that I was going to check out later. You guys come along, we call it even in the whole 'coming with us dead or alive' thing." he offered.

Luke and Iron fist shared a smile, "Knock some Triad heads together and take drugs off the streets? Sounds like a good break from petty thefts." the man said.

"Great. Now I gotta get to school. I'll drop by your offices later today. See ya then!" Spider-Man said as he picked his schoolbag up from the ground and ran towards the ledge. The teen leapt off the building before shooting a webline to the side of a building.

Like Cage and Iron Fist watched as the teen disappeared behind a building, "Is it bad that a mere teenager can find out where the triads lay when we haven't got a clue?" Iron Fist asked aloud.

Luke shrugged, "Hey we don't wear tights either. You saying we should?"

"Comment withdrawn."

…

Jason landed on the rooftop of his school, quickly changing into his usual clothes as quick as he possibly could. Jason found that the teacher's lounge has it's own window and is pretty much empty so he's been using that as his main way into the school for a while.

The teen stepped out of the lounge and checked the halls, _All clear thank god_. The teen thought as he ran towards his class. Jason turned the corner and reached for the door handle when the PA came on , _'Jason O-rou, please report to the principle's office, Jason O-rou to the office.' _

Jason had to hold himself back from punching a hole through the door. Instead he made a number of incoherent noises as he made his way to the principle's office.

The new principle was known for her almost military like attitude and it made most of the students nervous about being called to her office. Jason of course had faced much much worse but he was still a tad nervous. The teen stood outside the office a moment and took a deep breath before opening the door and entering.

Jason was fairly surprised to see Xang and Kong in the office, but seeing Akiko was a gob-smacker. Principle Dan-ji sat behind the desk with a almost solemn look on her face. She had long blonde hair that went down her back. She wore a full dress suit to show her authority over the school, "Mr. O-rou, please take a seat." she said calmly.

The teen gulped before taking a seat right beside Akiko, "Um...mam. Why are we here?" she asked, her voice showing obvious confusion and a little bit of fear.

"Yeah me and Kong haven't done anything wrong...this week." he added the last part quietly so only the students could hear.

Miss. Dan-ji sighed, "I'm sorry to tell you all that your friend Lee went to the hospital this morning for a drug overdose." she said, sending the room into a shocked silence.

Xang and Kong nearly fell out of their seats while Jason's face looked completely taken off guard as was Akiko. "Is-is he-" Kong started.

"He's stable. For now...but he's not out of the woods yet. Your all allowed to be excused from school to see him. " she explained. The students where dismissed, Xang andKo go both walked ahead of Jason and Akiko, wanting to see their friend/teammate ASAP.

"Hey...don't ok?" Akiko asked, seeing the look of guilt on the teen's face.

Jason looked over at her before looking back ahead, "I had him in my hands Aki. I could have taken it from him and broke that stupid vial." the teen stated sadly.

Akiko moved her hand to the side of his face and locked eyes with him. "You. Are. Not. To. Blame." she said slowly, trying to make her point clear to the teen, "You didn't give it to him, you didn't make it for him, you didn't convince him to go buy it. You did get your butt roasted by him, but you didn't do this to him." she said half jokingly on the last part.

Jason felt his lips tug into a small smile, "Ok. You win. I don't feel as guilty." he admitted.

"That's as far as I'm gonna get isn't it?" she asked blankly. The teen just nodded, it probably was. Akiko patted the cheek she held, "You are so damaged." she stated a matter of factly.

Jason leaded over and pressed his lips to her cheek briefly, "Yep. And your still with me today, much to my surprise." he said. Akiko softly elbowed him in response.

…

The doctors said that Lee was injected with Wasp directly into his bloodstream. It made absolutely no sense to Jason, Wasp is supposed to be inhaled by burning it like a cigaret. Injection was almost always proved to be fatal.

So someone tried to kill him.

Jason shot a webline to the building ahead of him, swinging alongside the building until he reached the highest point of the swing and jumped off. Falling down towards the streets below him. _I gotta find those guys, luckily I know a little spider that can tell me just where it was_. The teen thought as he fried another line to the side if a building and swung around the side at high speed.

The teen let go of the web and flew towards a flagpole which he swung around single-handed. The teen rested on the end of the pole before sliding off the side with a webline attached to the end and descended down towards the rooftop of the Heroes for Hire HQ.

Like Cage and Iron Fost waited as the wall-crawler descended beside them, "What took you so long?"

The teen released the web, "Normal life issues. Sorry. So you guys have a way to fallow me to where they're making this crap?" he asked.

Iron Fist nodded with a smile, "Luke made sure of that. I'll never understand why people treat inanimate objects like living things." he said.

Luke gave the man a stern look, "I know that your not talking about my car. You know how fine tuned she is." he stated. Luke got the car as a bucket of junk, and now it was something that he was proud to drive into Diamond District. And that a lot of hard earned money, and work.

"How do you know where they are anyway?" he asked.

The teen dug into his pocket and pulled out a Spider Tracer, "I made these things so they give out a radio signal that I can track it. I stuck it to the side of the dealer's truck." he explained as he tossed one to the man.

Luke looked at the object impressed, "You made this? And your in high school?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm smart. This is how I apply said smarts." he said with a simple shrug.

Like shook his head, "And yet your running around in tights." he said, gesturing to the teen's wardrobe choice.

The teen pointed a finger at the man, "Hey it's nerdy. I'm nerdy. It reflects my personality perfectly." he said defensively.

Iron Fist smirked, "Even when no one can tell if you smile?" he asked.

"Yep." Jason said proudly as he walked to the edge of the rooftop. "Now go on, I'll lead the way once your on the road. I'll try and keep to the roads." he said. The Heroes for Hire gave nods as they entered the by losing through the roof access.

…

Spider-Man landed on the side of a building, breaking into a sprint across the wall as Luke and Iron Fist fallowed him from the streets in their car. The teen jumped through the air before shooting two weblines on either side of him, throwing his legs out at his sides and pulling the webs down between his legs.

He kicked up into the air and landed on the side of a building in a alleyway. Luke and Iron Fist pulled off to the so mode of the road beside the alleyway. The car was pitch black with golden trim, it had a four seat compartment with a long hood that stretched in front of it. The license plate read 'PWR MAN'.

The teen crawled down the alley with the two right below him, coming to a rest at the end of a alley, a old fish gutting warehouse. "Has to be a warehouse. Always a warehouse, can't be a nice beach with girls in swimwear can it?" the teen asked aloud.

"No. And that sounds ridiculous." Iron Fist stated blandly.

"So what's the plan?" he asked the wall crawler. In most cases he and Iron Fist go in loud and proud. But at least then they have a idea of what they're walking into.

"I'll scout it out, wait by the door and wait for my signal." The teen said, shooting a webline to the roof of the building and pulling himself onto it. Luke and Iron Fist moved across the street and to the fence, Luke ripped a hole in the metal with ease, letting him and his Partner slip into the yard surrounding the warehouse. They walked towards the shipping door and waited.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man crawled over the roof towards the skylight. Peering inside, he saw this place was definitely the one he was looking for.

The conveyer belts that where used to send fish down the line now stood still, making it a long table for the men to use as a setup to make Wasp. There where twenty men in total, half of which seemed to be guards, the man from last night included. "Ok. Got you." The teen muttered before jumping into the air and crashing through the glass, startling the men below and giving Cage and Iron Fist the signal.

"Sorry, neighbors complained and your eviction notice is due!" Spider-Man shouted as he landed on one man and leapt towards another, jabbing him in the face.

Three men shot blasts of fire at the wall crawler, Spider-Man saw them coming and jumped away, twisting his body to avoid them in the process. As they focused their attention on the teen, none of them saw Luke Cage come up behind one and bop one square on the head, making him fall to the floor.

The other two men turned in time for Iron Fist to swing his leg into the side of the one's head. The final Firebender swiped through the air with his hands, making a arc of fire fly towards the heroes. Luke merrily the flames wash over him as Iron Fist slid under them and closed in on the man. He knocked another attack away with his open hand and turned his body, delivering a elbow strike to the man's jaw.

Luke saw five men come in on him, he grabbed one of them and swung him into his friends like a club. When the four when on the ground groaning in pain, he tossed the final one aside. "Ok wow. Just...wow." Spider-Man muttered as he split kicked two men.

Luke shrugged as he knocked another man down with a punch to the chest, cracking a few bones on the process, "I like thinking out of the box." he stated as another man came up and swung a metal pipe at him. Imagine his surprise when the pipe bent and Cage barely felt a thing.

Iron Fist charged up his hand and knocked a man clear across the room and into two others before slamming the three into a wall, "If the rest of you surrender, we won't harm you." he called out to the remaining seven men.

The three weren't surprised when the remaining men charged, "Well it was worth a shot." Iron Fist said with a shrug, ducking under a kick and kicking the remains foot out from under the triad.

"Oh it was. But they just never surrender. It's almost sad." Spider-Man said as he dogged a uppercut and grabbed his hand before tossing him into another and webbing them to the floor, "Almost."

"I'm with webs. It's pretty fun to knock these dumbasses heads together." Luke put in , grabbing two men and lifting them above his head, knocking their heads together to prove his point.

Now only two remained, and they where both scared, "Screw this!" the dealer from the night before shouted, shoving the other towards the heroes. Spider-Man leapt over the thug and landed in front of the dealer.

"Not you. I got some questions." he stated as Iron Fist knocked the last man out. Luke walked over to the teen and took the man, holding him above the ground. "Whose the one who poisoned Lee?" he asked.

Luke raised a eye but stayed silent, letting the teen go on with his interrogation, "W-Who?" he asked.

"Oh you don't remember your 'favorite customer' from last night? That's just bad work ethics." the teen stated, shaking his head. "The kid you poisoned." he said, making the man's face drop and Luke sneer at the little man.

"You poisoned a kid?!" he growled out.

The man gulped, "Look it wasn't my idea! The Kingpin ordered me to do it! He thought the kid led you there! Said to take care of it!" he said, crumbling under the pressure.

_Of course_. The teen thought sadly, "Ok. Here's what's going to happen, your going to tell us who the Kingpin is. Or three of us take turns tossing you out the windows. And there are a lot of windows here. I checked." Spider-Man said threateningly.

The dealer gulped, "Look I don't know who he is! I swear on my mother's life I don't! That's just how it is. He has mouthpieces, even they don't know who he is!" he explained to the heroes.

Luke and Spider-Man shared a look, "Alight. But let me make this clear." Jason got close to the man's face, "I find out that your dealing after they throw your ass in jail, I'll feed you to my pet spiders." he said, making the man's face pale.

Leaving the man webbed for the police, the three exited the warehouse.

…

"Do you really have pet spiders?" Iron Fist asked from the alleyway, the three watching as the police arrested the drug dealers.

Spider-Man shrugged from his spot on the wall, "Nah, just scaring some sense into him." he said. The teen turned to the heroes, "So how's it feel doing something good for free?" he asked.

Luke folded his arms over his chest, "No paycheck for this, no paycheck for you, and no money at all." he started. The man smiled, "But I'm pretty damn proud of us right now." he said happily.

Iron Fist nodded in agreement, "We'll find another way to pay for our home. Doing this...feels better than what we usually do." he said, agreeing with his partner on the matter.

Jason smiled under his mask, he did more than he could hope tonight. "Well I got homework to do. Thanks for the help on this." he said, shooting a web to the roof of the building he was on.

"Hey Spider-Man." Luke started, making the teen turn to him. "You ever need any help like this. Give us a call?" he asked, holding a hand out.

Spider-Man took it, "Sure thing. I owe you guys for this. Thanks again." he said before pulling on the webline and shooting himself up to the rooftop.

Luke smiled before turning back towards his car, Iron Fist by his side. "So what are we gonna tell Tarrlock? Think he'll be mad?" he asked his partner as he walked around to the passenger side of the car.

Luke shrugged, "He can deal with it himself. Spidy's a hero. Even if he doesn't know it yet." he said before stepping into the car.

…

Jason sat patiently as he could in the hall outside of Lee's room. Akiko by his side, "So...do we talk to him about..." she asked, unsure of what to even say to the firebender. He was expected to make a full recovery, the poison was out of his system and things where looking good for him. He was even allowed to return to Pro-Bending if he agreed to random drug tests.

But Jason still felt responsible for this. They poisoned the firebender because he interfered with the deal, "I think he's getting enough of this from his folks. Best we don't bring it up." he stated, getting a nod from the girl.

Akiko saw the look on the teen's face clear as day, she slid her hand over his, "Hey. Today was a good day. You beat the bad guys, had a team up with super heroes, and Lee's going to be ok." she listed off, making Jason give her a small smile, "So quit being a downer and perk up." she said, making Jason give her a smirk.

"Ok, ok. In not a downer. But I really do need to find the Kingpin and stop him. This is getting out of hand." he stated.

Akiko could only nod, "Yeah yeah, less Spidy stuff please." she said, leaning over and pecking the teen's cheek. "You need more Jason O-rou time. It's healthy for you." she stated.

"Yeah because nobody has tried to kill Jason O-rou yet." he said, earning a slug tithe arm from Akiko.

The door opened to show Xang, "Well come on, get your asses in here." he said, ushering the two into the room. Jason and Akiko stood and entered the room, Lee looked fairly the same, just paler. "He was just telling us that he met Spidy the other night. Helped him get a drug dealer." Xang said.

Lee smiled nervously, "Y-yep. We kicked their asses pretty good." he said confidently. Jason knew that Lee didn't want anyone finding out about his problem, but this was a tab bit extreme.

The teen inwardly sighed, _What the hell? What's one more secret to keep?_ he inwardly asked. "Is he shorter than the pictures or what?" he asked with a smile.

…

Jason stood on the rooftop of the hospital, he couldn't help but think back to Ava's death and how he just leapt off the roof without a idea of where to look for Dragon. "It's almost a lifetime ago. Guess time flies when your beating bad guys." The teen said aloud as he looked over the city.

"I bet it was."

The teen spun on his heel to be met with a familiar woman with red hair, sunglasses, and trench coat, "Greetings and salutations Jason. Long time no see." the woman said with a smile.

Jason's jaw nearly dropped off, "M-M-Madam Web! Where the hell have you been?!" he asked, supposed by her sudden appearance. He hadn't seen her since Peter gave her his suit, and that was months ago.

The woman shrugged, "I was in the Temporal Plain of existence and thought I should drop by." she joked lightly. The teen nervously laughed, better to be on the god-like entity's good side right? The woman's face turned stern, "Jason I'm here to warn you." she said, making the teen's face drop, "There is a battle coming, one that will test Spider-Men like none before."

Jason's eyes widened, "Men? As in more than one? As in more than just little old me?" the teen asked worriedly. _If it involves all the Spider-Men then it has to be big._

"Fear not. This battle will not come forward anytime soon. But you have many trials ahead of you before you can even begin to think your ready for it." she said darkly. "And you will not be the only one of this world at risk." she stated.

Jason gulped, "Madam Web, is my family in danger?" he asked bluntly. He'd do whatever it took to protect Pema and the others. Even if it meant death.

"Them? No. But someone of great power such as yourself, but had yet to learn of their responsibilities." she said cryptically. Oh perfect, riddles. The teen thought, "I'm sorry that you hate riddles so much but there's rules, I can't come out and say it." she said, startling the teen.

"Mind reading." she said as the teen thought it. He opened his mouth to speak, "I'll stop when I feel like it." she answered, smiling at the teen's creeped out expression. "Until next time Jason." she said as red smoke leaded from her coat and started to swirl around her.

"Wait!" Jason shouted as he tried to grasp her, only to go right through the smoke. The teen stood and looked around for any sign of her, "Well that wasn't ominous at all!" he shouted aloud.

The teen let out a sigh, What the hell could be so dangerous that it needs every Spider-Man? More importantly who else could be in danger of it? The teen thought to himself. The roof access door opened to show Akiko with a chocolate bar in her hand, "Hey, so I managed to sneak into the cafeteria and swipe some sweets." she said mischievously as she took a bit out of one of the bars.

She noticed the look on the teen's face, he looked like he was worried, "Are you ok? You look like someone told you that the whole world was out to get you." she said, giving him a concerned look.

Jason flashed her a smile, "It's nothing...so are both of those for you or are you gonna share?" he asked.

Akiko let out a huff, "Well I was going to share. But you just talked your way out of it." she said, making the teen deflate. "I'm gonna head home now, just thought I'd give you a heads up." she stated, hiding the smirk on her face by turning towards the door she came from.

"Wait up! Sweetie I didn't mean it!" Jason called out as he chased after the girl. "Aki come on!" he shouted as he entered the building.

**AN: So how'd I do? I've never written about Luke or Iron fist before so that was new territory for me.**

**And before I get my butt chewed out, yea, Luke is a English name. But that is also his current Superhero name as well. And he actually legally changed his name to that in the comics before anyone calls me out on it.**

**So yea, something's conning for Spider-Man. But not only him, but every Spidy ever conceived! If you know what I'm talking about, then you know that the event isn't over yet so it's not gonna happen anytime soon. **

**I hope you guys all liked the chapter, I got so much in store for Jason that I'm just nerding out by thinking about it! So until next time, I'll see you guys, just remember to leave your thoughts in the review and thanks again for reading!**

**Till next time web-heads!**


	23. Chapter 23

Carrion

Jason laid on the edge of a skyscraper, his left leg dangling off the side towards the streets below, his hands behind his head as he looked up towards the sky. It had been a full week since he met the Heroes for Hire, Jason had ran into the duo a few times since then and given them his regards.

Lee hadn't been discharged from the hospital yet, the doctors wanted to be absolutely sure he didn't have anymore poison left in his system. Jason hadn't said a word about the drug affair, and personally he didn't want to bring it up at all.

But sooner or later he needed to, but what was on Jason's mind was Madam Web's warning to him. He knew that he shouldn't worry right now about it, but still, it's not something that's going to slip his mind anytime soon. The teen sat up and turned so that both his legs hung over the side of the building, "Ok enough deep thinking. Time to surprise Aki." the teen said as he stood on the edge.

The teen swan dived off the side of the building, zooming towards the streets below as he pulled his blue hoodie up to hide his face. The teen shot a webline to the side of the building he jumped off of, swinging alongside the windows and into the air before letting go and summersaulting in the air.

The young hero fired another web to a awning of a rooftop and made right. _Who needs to drive when I can just basically fly over traffic?_ the teen thought, looking at a traffic jam at a four way intersection below.

The sight of a speeding motorcycle through the nooks of the cars caught the teen's attention. "Had to do it. I just had to look down and see it." The teen muttered in frustration as he landed on the wall of a building and ran after the motorcyclist, putting his mask on as he did so.

Spider-Man leapt off the side of the building and sprayed a line to the edge of a building, swinging around it's corner after the cyclist. The teen got into a even swing above the man driving the vehicle, "Hey. Not my place to call ya out on it. But I think you passed a stop sign." he stated.

The man looked up and immediately went faster. Jason shook his head, "They think they can outrun the police," he shot a web at the man's back and yanked him off the bike, making the bike fall to the ground and making sparks fly, "but no-one can outrun Spidy." he finished as he reeled the man in and stuck him on a lamppost.

Jason swung away from the man as people got out of their cars to see the commotion. The teen landed ontop of the dojo that Akiko went to, Jason took off his mask and crawled down to the alley beside the dojo. The teen thought back to when Akiko offered to put in a good word for him and let him join the class

He simply said that he had his workout every single day as Spidy, and to be fair it was true. Jason was still fairly small, but his body was almost completely muscle, though at a glance he didn't look like he could lift a whole car.

Jason landed in the alleyway and casually walked to the front of the building. Asami and Akiko where both talking to each other when Asami spotted the teen who put his finger up to his lips as he snuck up behind the girl. The heiress smiled, not saying anything as Jason scooped up Akiko in his arms, much to her surprise.

"Jason! Put me down!" Akiko said with a laugh as the teen held her up in the air by her waist. Jason thought for a moment before putting her down, Akiko slugged his arm, "Meanie." she stated.

Jason smiled, "Sticks and stones Aki. Hey Asami." he said, greeting the heiress. Her and Jason hadn't spent a lot of time with the Sato, but he wanted to change that.

Asami smiled at the teen, "Hey yourself. You treating Akiko with respect?" she asked almost menacingly. "Because she's like a little sister to me, and I will hurt you if you break her heart." she stated with a not so serious face.

Jason smiled, "I'll keep that in mind Asami thanks. So how was training today?" he asked as he put his arm around Akiko's shoulders.

Akiko smiled at the teen, "Not too hard. Asami went easy on me this time." she said, rubbing her shoulder where Asami got a good hit in.

Jason shot Asami a look, "And your worried about me hurting her feelings?" he asked skeptically as Asami let out a nervous chuckle. Asami had gotten better and better at her self defense lately and unfortunately Akiko was her one and only sparing partner.

"Hey, you two want to come with me back home?" she asked the couple.

"Sure! I've been meaning to see how great this palace of your is anyway." Akiko said with a smirk.

Jason gave her a questioning look, "Do you really live in a palace?" he asked. In truth Jason had only ever been to Akiko's house, and he was curious to see what Asami's house would look like.

Asami rolled her eyes, "No. Akiko's being a smart mouth." she said, dismissing the ridiculous claim. "It's a mansion. Not a palace." she said.

"You make it sound like there's a difference." Jason said blatantly as they fallowed the girl around the corner and to her car. "Holy crap..." the teen muttered at the extravagant satomobile.

Akiko could only nod in agreement with her boyfriend, Asami walked to the driver's seat and opened the door before sitting down, "My dad let me take the newest models for test drives." she explained as the two others got into the back seat.

Jason felt his Spider Sense lightly buzz in his head, _What? Oh come on there's absolutely nothing- _Jason thought before Asami abruptly pulled out of her spot. Jason and Akiko both gulped, _Mother_.

Asami zoomed into the streets, Jason clinged to his seat with his powers as Akiko nearly rammed into the car door. Jason grasped the girl and pulled her over, "Asami-" she stated as she turned a corner abruptly. Akiko put her arms around the teen's neck in a vice grip, "-aren't you going a tad fast?!" she asked.

Asami turned and gave her a questionable look, "No I'm in the speed limit." she said, nearly giving the two of them a heart attack as a semi trucks honked it's horn as Asami drifted out of her lane.

She abruptly turned right at a intersection, just missing the semi. Jason decoded that shutting up would be the best course of action so she doesn't pull another stunt like that again. Akiko and Jason held each other tightly as Asami drive them to her home.

…

Asami slowed to a stop in front if the gate to her home, she turned to see Akiko hanging onto Jason for dear life. Both their eyes where wide as dinner plates and where both shaking lightly. "Woah! Look I get you two like each other but that is something I don't want happening in my back seat!" she stated.

Akiko and Jason both gave her skeptical looks before noticing what she meant, Akiko was literally sitting in the teen's lap. The two both scrambled away with their faces red, "W-W-We're not ready for that!" Jason stuttered out, getting a nod from his girlfriend.

Asami smirked, "Yeah I know. But your faces are priceless." she said, making the two cheeks turn pink as she leaned over to the intercom near the gate. "It's Asami, can you guys open the door?" she asked. The gates slid open not a second afterword, "Thank you." Asami said gratefully as she drove on towards her home.

Jason and Aki's jaws nearly dropped at the sight of the home. It was amazing, the mansion was massive in size, making Jason's idea of a mansion seem small in comparison. "Holy crap it is a palace." Aki muttered.

The heiress pulled up to the front door where a valet was waiting to take her car away, "Thank you Ping." Asami said gratefully as the three stepped out of the car and the valet drove away.

Jason looked at Asami with wide eyes, "You have a valet?" he asked.

Asami shrugged, "Well I actually have ten." she said.

Akiko would have laughed at her boyfriend's face if she herself wasn't as shocked. The three entered the foyer of the large home, walking across the marble floor with Asami leading the way, "I was thinking that maybe we could go to the racetrack. Or if you guys want we can go to the pool. What do you guys think?" she asked.

"I think I seriously need to reconsider my career choices." the teen said as he looked around the house. The girls laughed at the teen's expression as they entered the library, the massive room had entire sections containing books. "Holy crap." the teen muttered.

Asami nodded, "My dad liked to keep references handy." she explained. "So the pool then?" she asked the pair, who could only nod at the idea. Asami smiled, "Great! I'll have my butler get some swimsuits for you guys." she said as she went off to find one of her servants, "Just walk around for a but you'll find it eventually!" she called back.

Akiko turned to Jason, a unbelieving smile on her face, "Racetrack? Pool?" she asked in disbelief.

"I kinda feel bad. Like we're taking advantage of her hospitality." Jason said as they walked down the hall towards what they assumed was the back of the home.

Akiko pursed her lips together, "I know. Same here. But she's offering...so I guess that doesn't make it bad?" she said, unsure if she was right on this or not. The two wandered the house aimlessly for a while before finding the pool. "Holy crap..." Akiko muttered.

Jason merely nodded in agreement, as the two admired the decorative pool, Asami came in behind them, "Glad you guys found it. I was a little afraid you'd get lost." she stated. The heiress pointed to the changing rooms, "Jason you can change in the left, me and Akiko have the right." she stated.

The three went into the respective rooms, Jason entered the small room and made sure no one was outside. The teen put on his web shooters and wrapped his costume in a web sack before sticking it to the ceiling. "Better safe than sorry." the teen muttered as he turned to put on his swimwear.

Jason turned to the swimwear and gulped. They where only trunks. Jason may swing around the entire city in nothing but tights, but this was going to be him, shirtless, in front of two girls. Coupled with the fact that Jason was fairly self-conscious made his face brighten at the blue swim trunks.

_Come on O-rou. Pull it together, you've fought human lightbulbs, mad scientists, and triad members over the last few months. And your afraid of showing your bare chest to your girlfriend and her friend?_

The teen thought to himself. He was silent for a moment, "Yes. Yes I am"

…Meanwhile…

Akiko looked at the swimsuit with a completely red face. "A-A-Asami?! Wh-What is this?!" she squeaked out. The swimsuit that Asami had got her was two pieces, it was scarlet with a white trim on it, and she was embarrassed just to hold them up in her hands.

Asami couldn't help but smile wickedly, "Well they're actually a older type. And they're my only guest ones I have at the moment." she explained, smiling at the thought girl's flustered face.

"But...but it's wearing underwear in the pool." she stated from the other side of the screen that blocked the two girls.

"Don't guys do that all the time though?" Asami asked as she slipped into her suit.

"Yes! And I'm not a guy!" Aki said, trying to make her point.

Asami rolled her eyes, "Well fine. You can stay in here and not see the thing I had my servants pick out for Jason." she said cheekily, making Akiko stop and think for a moment. _If she has only this...oh this I gotta see_. the girl thought with a smile as she changed into her swimsuit.

Akiko checked to make sure the teen hadn't exited his room before rising into the pool, "Ahhhhhhhh, perfect temperature." Akiko said as the warm water washed over her. Aki may had been afraid of the Yue Bay, but she can touch her feet to the bottom in the pool so it really helps.

Asami jumped into the pool with a splash beside the girl, covering her with water. The two swam through the water for a few seconds until Jason spoke up from the room, "Asami...Ummm...do you happen to have anything else for me to wear?" the teen asked.

Asami tired to her friend with a devilish smirk, "Watch this." she said before turning towards the door to the changing room. "Do you need any help in there Jason?" she asked, making Akiko cover her mouth, keeping herself from laughing.

"W-W-W-What! No! No I'm just...not...fully comfortable in...this." the teen trailed off from behind the door.

Akiko was snorting out giggles along with Asami. "Jason, Aki has a new suit you should see." she said, making the girl stop and slash her with water.

The teen let that sink in for a moment. _On one hand I get to see my girlfriend in a swimsuit. On the other I embarrass myself beyond all belief...damnit I'll take those odds._ The teen thought before opening the door.

Asami and Akiko stood in silence for a moment before Asami spoke up, "Holy crap...Akiko you know how to pick 'em." she said, making the girl's face brighten.

Jason may be skinny, but the spider bite sculpted his muscles into what resembled a athletes body. Abs, pecs, and biceps where all visible and looked incredibly healthy for someone like Jason. "Ok no offense Jason. But how the hell are you...that?" Asami asked, pointing to the teen's center mass.

The teen's face blustered red, "I...um...eat my vegetables?" he said, coming out more as a question than anything.

Akiko couldn't stop staring, she'd seen the teen in this state of undress before but she was dazed from finding out his secret. Now she had a clear view of just how fit her boyfriend was. And suffice to say she did enjoy the view, "Um...could you two stop staring...it's...unsettling." the teen said.

"Sooner you get in Jason sooner we stop." Asami stated as she started swimming back towards the other end of the pool.

Jason quickly entered the pool and submerged himself before breaking the surface, "You are way to self conscious." Akiko stated, stepping in front of him.

Jason for the first time saw what she was wearing and nearly let his jaw fall into the water. He had NEVER seen Aki in this state of dress, or any girl for that matter, Akiko felt her cheeks burn from his gaze. The red stood out against her light skin and highlighted her...assets.

Aki wasn't as big as Asami but she was not small or 'flat' as people called it. In honesty Jason didn't entirely care what her figure was, but that wasn't saying he didng enjoy seeing her like this. He darted his eyes downward so the girl wouldn't hit him and found himself staring at her flat stomach and then her well toned legs. _Is it weird that I'm completely ok with dying where I stand right now?_

Her hair was undone so the red tips cascaded into the white stripes that went over her shoulders. Her cheeks where almost the same color as her suit. _So this is what Jason means when the universe pulls one on him_. she thought as she crossed her arms over her chest in a attempt to hide.

"Hey...you...you don't need to hide you know." The teen said, looking down into the water, his cheeks burning red.

Akiko felt her face turn red as well, yet smiled nonetheless, "So...you like what you see?"

"Aki I'm about ready to drown myself so I don't say something that makes our entire relationship awkward. Questions like that ain't gonna help." he stated blatantly, making them both chuckle. "But...at the risk of you boiling me alive. Yeah. I always have." he said.

Aki felt her skin turn red again, "Awww isn't that sweet. But in case you guys forgotten, we're in a pool." Asami said before jumping into the space between the two, dousing them both with water. She emerged from the wear a moment later, "Let the games begin." she said before both her friends sent water her way.

…

The three spent a half hour in the pool before getting out and exploring the rest of the Sato estate. The three where currently in the massive garage that the house held, "I'm guessing that you've worked pretty well with all these." Akiko stated as they passed a few of them.

"Woah...that's...wow." Jason muttered as they approached a new car. It had a medium sized hood that was blue, the body of the car was covered with a retractable roof that was dark with white seats. It looked like it could seat up to four people if it wanted to.

The heiress stopped at one of the newer model. Asami sighed, "Me and my dad haven't been able to get this one to start. It's been bugging the hell out if us." she stated. She had been around cars almost all her life and knew how to dismantle a engine in about half a hour, and this was starting to annoy her.

"Mind if I take a peek?" the teen asked, surprising both the girls.

Asami gave him a questionable look, "What...do you exactly know about cars?" she asked, trying not to sound offensive.

"Not a thing. But I'm pretty good at science, in fact it's my specialty." he said proudly. "Besides, if it's as bad as your thinking that I think you think then what do you got to lose?" he asked with a shrug.

Asami and Akiko gave each other a black look before toning to Jason, "Don't make it blow up." she said as she reached in and popped the hood as Jason rolled up his sleeves.

The teen had chased down cars and disabled them enough times to know what to mess up to stop a car. And he could see why the car wouldn't even start after checking for a few minutes.

"The pistons are welded." he said, making the heiress walk up beside him and look at the problem. Jason usually does the same trick after he rips the hood off a car and sticks the engine into submission.

"Son of a- how did I miss that!?" she asked as Jason rolled his sleeves back up.

The girl leaned in to try and find out what when wrong as Aki leaned towards Jason, "Did you just show up Asami? A Sato? In cars?" she asked with a smile.

Jason shrugged, "You have any idea how many cars I've disabled over my short career?" he asked, getting a nod of agreement from the girl.

Asami looked up from the engine towards the teen, "Ok you have officially impressed me Jason." she said cheerfully. "Tell you what, why don't you swing by the factory tomorrow and meet my dad?" she asked, making the teen's jaw drop.

Akiko smiled at her boyfriend's expression, "A-Ar-Are you serious! Asami I'd be honored. I seriously can't thank you enough!" the teen exclaimed, giving the girl a near bone crushing hug

Asami swore she felt her bones pop, "Jason...can't...breathe!" she said, making Aki give her a look of sympathy. The teen put the girl down with a apologetic look, "And think of or as a thank you for fixing the problem with the car." she explained.

Jason gave her the biggest grin he could manage, he was going to meet the biggest business CEO in all the city.

…

Asami offered to give the two rides home but they both declined, Jason said he was giving her a lift.

The teen swung over rooftops towards his apartment in his Spider-Man suit with Aki on his back. Akiko let out a squeal of excitement as Jason flew into the air. The teen fired a webline to the wall of a building and swung around it's corner, _Time for the show stopper._

The teen let go as the swung arc brought him to the highest point before releasing it and flying high into the air before diving towards the streets below. Aki tightened her grasp on the teen as the sidewalk got closer and closer, Jason shot two webs on either side of him, making a slingshot.

He barely touched the street before being shot straight into the air, past the buildings below them. The two passed a small bird that squawked at the two of them, "Oh who are you, a traffic cop?" the girl asked before falling back towards the city.

Spider-Man attached a webline to a flagpole and used it to rocket them down the street and onto the side of the teen's apartment building, "Last stop. Scenic view of 119th street and prime realist-state location." Jason joked as he entered through the window of his home.

Aki let go of the teen and leaned up and pecked his masked face, "Not to mention home of the worlds most amazing hero." she said smiling as she walked over to the couch and laid down on it.

Jason took off his mask and sat on the end opposite of Akiko, putting her feet up on his lap. "Well I prefer friendly neighborhood hero. But I'm not knit picking." the teen said.

Aki raised a eye at the teen, "Uhhhh, is that what you where aiming for when you made your costume?" she asked skeptically. Many of the people of Republic City where find of Spider-Man, but Aki thought that his costume didn't reflect that all that well.

"Well actually the original Spider-Man gave me this suit." he said, making the girl spring up with a surprised look.

"Woah woah woah! There's another Spider-Man?!" she asked. Clearly she was confused by the teen's new revelation.

Jason looked at her confused, "Wait I told you this did t I?" he asked.

"No! No you did t! Now spill. All of it." she stated firmly. Jason went over the entire thing once more, this time including the fact that there where the possibility of Spider-Men in all worlds. The prospect of which Akiko liked a lot. "So Peter gave you the suit...what was his like?" she asked.

"I never saw it." The teen stated with a shrug, "I actually thought this was the first one he made. Kinda like passing the torch ya know?" he reasoned.

Akiko shrugged, "Well I'll tell you right now that I want to meet this guy now." she said.

The young hero raised a eye, "Dare I ask why?" he asked

She shrugged, "I wanna see if you two are alike. I mean is he more serious? Does he make cheesy jokes? Does he...kill?" she asked, being delicate about that last one.

Jason shook his head, "No. I mean he said that he shared the same pain I did. I don't kill because it's no better than what the guys I put away do. I'm pretty sure he doesn't kill either." he stated knowingly.

Akiko laid back down onto the couch with a thoughtful look. "Ya know, I think I could make a kickass spider suit." she said with a grin on her face.

Jason smirked as he shot her a look, "Oh really? What's wrong with my costume?" he asked challengingly.

"Well for one thing, the eyes. They're too...well they are black. But it makes you look more hostile than you are." she stated. "Make them white, gives off a more welcoming vibe." she said, Jason thought for a moment about it before submitting to that.

"And your one gauntlet is still busted right? Why put it on your wrists if you use them to block a lot of attacks? Maybe shrink them or something and put them on a belt." she suggested. Jason's defense actually involved dogging a tad more than blocking but she had a point, and blocking without frisk of breaking something expensive sounds good.

"Ok. Anything else?" the teen asked.

Akiko sat up and looked him over, "Why not make gloves that come to a point on your forearm that point to your shoulder? And move the web pattern on that too, red on just the palms looks a little weird." she added to the teen.

She looked down to his feet, "Do the same with the shoes but make them go midway up your shin as well. Consistency and all that." she explained.

"Other than that your pretty good." she said with a shrug after looking his suit over once more.

Jason couldn't help but admit that the idea sounded pretty good. The teen gave her a smile, "Have I told you that your amazing lately? Because you are." he stated, making the girl smile.

Akiko sat up and scooted over towards the teen, "You know...I did really like those trunks Asami got you." she said with a small blush.

Jason felt his face burn lightly at the mention of swimwear. "Well...yours...I got no idea what I'm supposed to say without sounding like a total pervert." the teen stated honestly.

Akiko rolled her eyes at the teen. "So...nervous about tomorrow?" she asked the teen, "I could come along for like moral support if you want me to." she said.

Jason gave her a smile, "Nah. I'll be fine...although. I wouldn't mind it if you gave me a little...sign of encouragement." he said with a playful smirk.

Aki sat up and leaned over to the teen, a look of false innocence covering up a knowing smile. "Oh? What did you happen to have in mind?" she asked, as though she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well I was thinking a nice little snack to bring with me." the teen said.

Aki's face dropped, "Are you joking? Like honestly I can't tell right now." the girl stated.

The teen shrugged, "Well I was at first, but now that think about it I'm liking that over making out with you more." Aki gave him a look, " Ok I was joking about that one...so wanna make out?" he asked.

Akiko rolled her eyes before pressing her lips to the teen's. Jason smiled against the girl's lips as they moved against one another, _Just as I planned...somewhat...a little...ish._

…

Finally after months away from Republic City, the team sent to uncover artifacts from a known Air Nation temple that was now covered by a massive swamp had returned. They brought back with them any artifacts that they could recover from the ruins. Including a chest with the name on the front of it, Carrion.

The team returned the chest to their benefactor's factory, Future Industries. Hiroshi Sato watched as the archeologists carefully unloaded the chest from it's storage on the truck, the head archeologist, Mag-Li Bride, stood beside him.

He had brown hair that was shaved, the same as his eyes, he had a beige suit on with no tie. "Do you have any idea what this thing could be?" Hiroshi asked.

Mag-Li shook his head, "N-N-Not the slightest sir. We haven't even opened it since we recovered it, but what's strange is that it has Air Nomad symbols on it. T-This could be a lost Air Nation Temple!" the man stuttered in excitement. Mag-Li used to be teased because of his vocal problem but has gained control of it fairly well over the years.

Hiroshi smiled at the man, "Well get a good night's sleep Mag-Li, you and your team deserves it." he said, giving the man a pat on his back before going back to his office to finish some paperwork.

Mag-Li smiled as the chest was brought towards his lab, "Tomorrow is going to a he a-a-amazing." he muttered to himself.

…

Jason stood in front of Future Industries, taking a deep breath as he wished he took Aki up on her offer. The teen walked towards the front of the factory as Asami came out the front door, "Finally. I've been waiting forever." the girl said as she led the teen inside.

"Sorry, I'm a little nervous." the teen stated as they walked onto the factory floor. The building was more of less the same from when he battled Doc Ock. Only there was people occupying the tables inside as of empty bottles of chemicals and machine parts.

Asami patted his shoulder, "Don't worry your head about it. My dad's the nicest guy in the world, I'm pretty sure that he's never even stepped on a cockroach." she said positively.

Jason calmed down a little more at that but was still a little nervous about meeting the man himself. The two walked up the stairs up to the catwalk as the assembly line below hummed to life. "So what do you do everyday? I mean I got work and school but you?" the teen asked.

Asami shrugged, "Homeschooled. I usually just help test drive all the new vehicles that dad makes." she explained as they neared the office of the factory. She turned to the teen with a smile, "So you ready to meet the man himself?"

"Not a fricking chance." Jason said honestly.

"That's the spirit." Asami said with a grin before opening the door. "Hey dad, this is the guy who helped me with the car." she said, pulling the teen inside by the collar with surprise. The teen regained his balanced and lightly glared at the girl before turning his attention to Hiroshi.

The teen immediately bent forward in a bow before the man, "I-I-It's a honor to meet you sir." the teen said out of respect for the man.

Hiroshi stood up from his desk with a smile as Jason stopped bowing, "Please, call me Hiroshi." the man said warmly to the teen. "So your the one who helped Asami find out what was wrong with the new model. I can't believe we missed something like that." he said.

The teen gulped, "Well to be fair who checks pistons? I just kinda noticed it." The teen said.

Hiroshi patted the teen's shoulder, "Don't be so bashful. I'm not going to chew your head off...I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name." he said apologetically, holding his hand out.

"Jason. Jason O-rou." the teen said, shaking the man's hand.

Hiroshi's eyes widened, "O-rou? Is...does your mother's name happen to be Ava?" the man asked the shocked teen.

Jason was honestly surprised, "Um...yea. She passed away recently though." the teen said depressingly. Asami gave a solemn look at the mention of his mother passing.

Hiroshi looked over the boy, "My spirits...you look just like him." the man said in awe.

Jason turned to Asami and gave her a questioning look, she held her hands up in defense, "Hey I don't have any idea what he's talking about either. So don't look at me." she said, abstaining her of any blame.

Jason turned his have to Hiroshi, "Umm...I am a little confused. Who do I just look like? Usually I get stuff like this from a random guy on the street." he lightly joked to the man.

Hiroshi smiled widely at the teen, "Jason you look just like your father! I can't believe you hadn't heard that before." he said cheerfully.

Jason on the other hand was gobsmacked to say the least. "M-m-my father?" he asked unbelievingly. That was literally the first time he ever heard something like that. And it gave him a small taste of sour in his mouth at the thought. "Look...sir with all due respect, I don't think that a deadbeat like him would ever work for you. That is unless he was a butler or something. That'd be understandable...heh..butler."

Hiroshi gave the teen a questionable look, "Jason, your father was the head of one of my research teams." he said.

"…"

"…"

"…I swear to god, I'm being punished." Jason said simply.

…

Jason and Hiroshi sat in his office, the teen's head in his hands as he tried to wrap his mind around this. Asami was smart enough to know that this was a moment that the two should have together without her around.

"So...my idea of my deadbeat father who I assumed was just a nobody turns out to be head of your biological research division?" he asked in utter disbelief.

Hiroshi nodded, "Yes...Jason I'm truly sorry that I brought this up. If I had known about it-" he started.

Jason shook his head, "It's ok Hiroshi...it actually explains a little." he muttered. Ava wasn't on the same level as Jason intellect wise, she was smart in her own right, she managed to rise a single child by herself for sixteen years after all. "So what was he like?"

Hiroshi smiled, "His name was Torma Sugu." he started. "He was truly gifted Jason, he was one of the greatest mind that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And most importantly, he was my oldest friend." he said with a smile.

Jason was trying to sink this all in, but it was a enormous idea to take in. "Did you know my mom?" he asked the man.

Hiroshi beamed, "Torma never stopped talking about her. You'd have to give him something to work on to get him to shut up." he said with a chuckle as he recalled the memories. The man caught Jason's solemn look, "Jason, I'm sorry that your finding out about him this way. But you need to know that he loved your mother very much." he said.

Jason grimaced slightly, "Then why didn't he stick around?"

Hiroshi sighed, "I wish I could tell you. I really do. But one day he was just...gone. No trace of him. I made a report to the police but he never showed up. I'm sorry Jason. I really am." he said, trying to reconcile the teen.

Jason took a breath before standing up from his seat, "Eh at least I know his name now. Let's get over the doom and gloom, I mean I know more about him now than I ever have. That's something." he said, trying to look on the positive side.

Hiroshi smiled as he stood as well, "Actually. I may have something else for you as well, if your interested, how would you like to see what he worked on?" he said trying to brighten the mood.

Jason thought for a moment, _Do I really want to know what he did? I mean I haven't wondered what he was like since I was a kid...but maybe it's time I found out._ "I think I'd like that sir." the teen said gratefully.

The two exited the man's office and walked on the catwalk towards the R&D department, "So Jason, have thought of getting a job here?" he asked the teen.

Jason swore he held his heart jump into his rain for a moment, "Y-yea. I'm good at science at my school in Dragon Flats so I thought about working for one of the big companies." he explained, making the man smile.

"How is the old home front? I haven't been back there in years since we put up that school." he asked.

Jason shrugged, "Well it's a school, so half the people there just stare at the clock until it's over and the other half work until the day is over with." he stated, getting a hardy laugh out of the man.

"I expected as much. And to be honest I learned most of what I know from working at the dockyards with my father when I was a boy." he said. He got into the entire idea of Future Industries when he worked on ship repairs, "What about you Jason? How are you getting along?" he asked.

Jason smiled, "I have a job at the Daily Marvel. Helps pay the bills and I get to meet some interesting people." he explained.

Hiroshi raised a eyebrow, "Really? I honestly didn't expect the newspaper, but I must admit that it's a successful business to say the least." he stated as a worker passed by.

Jason smiled, he loved working at the Marvel. Whitney was like a big sister in the sense that she helped him when he needed it. And if did help him being Spider-Man greatly. "So what did my dad do mostly? I know that biological research isn't the most explored thing but still I can't imagine what he'd work on."

"In all honestly I didn't know. Torma's work was...delicate. He had only a small team with him, and he was secretive to them even." he explained to the teen. _Oh great paranoia, I hope it's not hereditary._

"You make it sound like people where out to get him." the teen stated.

Hiroshi's face hardened, "Jason the work your father was doing was astronomical. People actually may have been after what he was working on for all I know." he explained.

Jason cast a worried glance, "What was he working on? If I may ask."

Hiroshi glanced down to the floor, "I wish I knew. I really did. But he kept that to himself." he said as they entered the R&D section of the factory. The room that they entered was huge, the skylight above their heads had a pillar attached that went down into the center of the room with complex machines surrounding it.

Tables where filled with beakers, machine parts, chemicals, notes, and all other assortments filled the room. At one of them was a blonde man looking through a microscope, "Dr. Chapal." he called out to the man.

He looked up from the microscope to his two guests, "Mr. Sato! Good to see you down here sir." he said as he stood to greet the two.

The one thing that Jason noticed immediately was his missing hand on his right arm.

"As always it's good to see you too Chapal." Hiroshi said as he shook the man's hand. He put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "Chapal, I'd like you to meet Jason O-rou. Torma's son." he said, introducing the teen to the man. "Jason, this is your father's old partner."

Chapal smiled before holding out his hand to shake, "I'm happy to meet you Jason." he said, making the teen smile.

"Nice to meet you too sir." the teen said respectfully, he raised his hand but caught himself and raised his left hand instead to shake. "So...what'd my old man do around here?" he asked a little nervously.

…

Mag-Li Bride sat in front of the chest that they recovered. Ever since they uncovered it, he'd been trying to find something on whoever or whatever Carrion was. But it's been a dead end every step of the way so far, so there was only one real option right now.

The man stood and walked towards the chest, "N-N-Nothing ventured. N-Nothing gained." he muttered before grasping the lid and trying to lift it. The lid barely bugged, with another more forceful pull, the lid lifted off the chest.

Mag-Li looked inside to find...red dust?

"Dust? But dust collects on the outside with the air particles." the man muttered as he reached in to take a tiny bit of dust from it's container. "What's it doing-" the man started as he touched the substance.

It stung. The man recoiled his hand away from the box as he held his finger, it started to burn, the point where he put his finder in started to shed. The skin began to melt, the burning was crawling up the man's arm, Mag-Li let out a cry of agony.

He tried to turn to run to get help but pain in his arm caused him to stager and fall, he grabbed onto the only thing he could reach for.

The chest.

It happened quickly, the chest toppled over and spilled the dust overtop Mag-Li and covering his chest and body.

"GEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the man cried out in pain.

The dust began to swirl over the man, covering the man's entire body. The room was silent, the only sound was the sound of sizzling from the remains of the body.

After a few moments, the dust began to sink. Not into the ground, but into the body of the man.

The body turned over and pushed off the ground, standing up slowly as the dust fell off it. In it's head was a purple hood that wrapped around his neck. The being's chest, arms, and legs where bare, purple rags covered it's wrists, feet, and waist. On his hip was a brown bag. His skin was pale, he looked like he had no muscle whatsoever, the being looked like it had never eaten before.

The being's eyes where empty, only darkness where in them, "Caaaaarrrooonn livvvessss!"

…

Jason listed to every word that doctor Chapal said with interest. "So what field of study are you most interested in? Genetics? Physics? Biology?" he asked the teen as they both sat at one of the tables. Hiroshi had left to find his daughter and gave the two time to talk.

"Actually I'm partial in all those fields." he explained, Jason enjoyed all aspects of science and he was interested in all of them. The teachers at his school say that he's as smart as they come, though Jason wouldn't admit it out loud.

Chapal smiled, "So your a Jack of all trades then...Jason, how would you like to intern here?" the man asked. Jason wanted to leap as high into the air as he could and let out a cry of utter joy at the idea, but he just gave a huge smile instead.

"I'd love to! I-I mean I'd have to getting cleared with my bosses at the Marvel, but it'd be a pleasure Dr. Chapal." he said happily to the man.

Chapal smiled, _Who knows? Maybe it'll be like working with Torma again. _the man thought.

The alarm bell rung out across the room.

The two stood from their seats abruptly, "Umm, what's that?" the teen asked, "Because of it's a fire drill I already had one of these today." he joked lightly as he fallowed the scientist towards the exit of the room.

"That's the emergency alarm. We need to get out of here. Now!" Chapal said as they exited the lab and started down the hall.

Not without making sure everyone rose makes it out of the building first. Jason thought as he stopped, "You go on ahead doc," he said as he turned a corner while the doctor stopped, "if I let a story like this pass by my boss wouldn't let me hear the end of it!" he yelled back.

Chapal wanted to go after him, but if he was anything like his father, he's as stubborn as they came.

Jason entered a closet with cleaning supplies lining the shelves, Jason she'd his clothes to reveal the black spider on his chest. He put his clothes in a web before putting on his mask and exiting the small room, the teen continued on his way towards the danger, his Spider Sense pointing the way.

…

Carrion tossed another body aside as he walked towards the scientists, "For spirit's sake someone stop him!" one of them yelled as he threw a fire jab at him, the fire connected with his body but didn't slow him down.

Carrion sprinted forward and quickly clasped his hand around the man's mouth, "Your k-k-kind killed m-m-my masters." the being stuttered out as his hand began to decay the man's flesh away. "So I s-shall do the same!"

A webline was attached to the man's back and was yanked out of his hand, "Hey! Tall pale and corpsey! Lay off him he's had a rough day!" a voice yelled out.

Jason caught the man and lowered him to the ground, "Ok man let's-" he stopped when he saw his face.

What was left of it anyway.

His entire jaw was gone, the flesh melted away in the shape of a handprint, showing the man's bones, "My god..." the teen muttered as she shakily laid the man on the floor before turning to the being. "What the hell is wrong with you!" he yelled before leaping over and twisting his foot out, and round housing the side of his head.

Carrion stumbled back as Spider-Man landed, his eyes wide under his mask. "I didn't pull that back. How are you still standing?!" he demanded. Carrion turned his head towards the teen, tilting it to the side until it cracked, "Ok...here's my rebuttal." the teen said as he sent a jab to the man, only for him to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Eh? Did I win?" Spider-Man asked aloud before his Spider Sense rang in his head. Carrion appeared behind him and kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into a table. "Simple no would have done." the young hero said as he brushed the wreckage off him.

Carrion dug into his bag and pulled out one of his deadliest weapons.

Red dust.

He threw it towards the teen as hard as he could, the teen vaulted over it and towards Carrion. "So who are you? Rag doll?" he connected a fist to his stomach, "Dusty?" he doged a swipe at his head and uppercutted him, "Sparkles? I'll just call you sparkles." he finished before hopping in the air and drop kicking the being.

He disappeared in a cloud of smile once more and fell atop the young hero, "M-M-My name is Carrion!" he yelled out as he gripped the sides of the teen's face. Jason felt his skin begin to burn, he reacted fast and sprayed webbing in Carrion's face.

His hands left the teen's head and tried to get the substance out of his eyes. Spider-Man folded his legs and kicked Carrion off him and I to the air. The teen Spingarn I to his feet, "Alright then sparkles, let's-" he stopped when he didn't see the man on the ground or behind him.

He was floating in the air, "Ok...that's a first..." the teen muttered as he shot a webline to the ceiling and swung up towards the man.

Carrion flew forward fast and kicked the teen upside the head, "Y-Y-Your not a f-firebender. I don't n-n-need to kill you. But I will!" he shouted out in a stutter.

Spider-Man attached a web to a catwalk and swung around it in a circle, "Sure stuttering Siamese. As soon as you start surrendering!" the teen called back as he rammed his legs into Carrion's gut. He recovered quickly and grabbed his legs and began to spin in midair, burning the teen's ankles a little until he flung him towards the glass ceiling.

Spider-Man erupted onto the rooftop, spinning in midland so that he landed feet first onto the glass. Carrion flew up through the hole, read dust in hands and threw it towards Spider-Man. "Look man, your angry, I get it. But I don't get why your mad. Let me help you, I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt that guy back there." he said as he ducked under the dust.

Carrion looked at the young hero with rage, "T-T-They killed m-m-my master! They d-deserve the same f-fate!" he declared loudly.

"Who? The company? Look I get that corporate types are real asses sometimes but they wouldn't kill anyone. I think." the teen replied.

Carrion landed on the glass, "N-No! The F-Firebenders! They killed my m-master, and all his kind!" he said irritably.

Jason's eyes widened under his mask, "You mean the Airbenders? Carrion...what year is it?" he asked. _This is a bad idea_.

"It doesn't matter! The war has started! I-I must fight!" he declared before running towards the teen, closing the distance between them. "Starting with you!" _I knew it! Bad idea!_

Jason blocked a punch before grabbing his wrist, "Carrion listen! The war is over! It's been over for seventy years!" he tried explaining to him. Carrion head butted him, making him release his hold on the man, he fallowed with a hard punch to the face, sending the teen's back onto the glass.

"Liar! The Air Nation is dead! And I must make them pay!" he said as he stood over the teen. "B-B-But first. I learn who y-y-you are." he said.

That's when Jason felt it, something in his head, and it wasn't his Spider Sense. The teen rise from the ground and punched the man, hard, sending him skidding across the rooftop.

Carrion wiped a bit of blood off his chin, "Spider-Man, s-st-stay out of my way." he said to the teen as he approached him.

"I'm sorry Carrion but your too dangerous, just come quietly. We can work this out I swear, you just need to trust me. Your confused, the war is over. There are Airbenders here today! I can introduce you to them! Just please, give up." he pleaded.

This wasn't like fighting a supervillain, Carrion is confused, and the teen just knew he could help him if he gave him a chance.

"I know who you are J-J-Jason. Stay out of my way."

Jason felt his heart stop at that. He knew. He knew that he was Spider-Man.

Carrion disappeared in a could of red smoke, leaving only the stunned teen on the factory rooftop.

"N-no...everyone...Pema...Tenzin...Aki. They're all..." Jason's legs gave out and his knees hit the glass.

His worst nightmare had come true.

…

Akiko sat with her mouth agape at the story Jason had told her. Someone knew who he was, and to say the teen was freaking out would be a understatement. The teen sat in the chair of his apartment with his mask in hand while he tried to find some way out of this.

"I just don't know how he did it." the teen muttered, looking down at his mask. "He didn't even know the hundred year war was over. He probably never even heard of me." the teen said, utterly confused.

Akiko thought for a minute, "Well what can he really do? Nobody's going to listen to a nut job like him and take his claims seriously." she stated.

Jason sighed, "I know, but I'm more worried about what else he knows. He's going after firebenders Aki." he stated, making the girl swallow hard. Jason bit on his inner cheek as he thought of a way out of this, "I could stake out your house tonight to make sure he doesn't show." the teen offered.

Akiko shook her head, "It's too risky. What of the guy blabs in front of my parents if he attacks? I mean they're nice Jason but still..." she trailed off. She had wanted to tell her parents about Jason's secret in the beginning, but after seeing the threats that he faces she understands why he didn't want to tell her in the first place.

Jason let out a sigh, "He kept talking like the Airbender genocide just happened...maybe I could ask Uncle Ten about him." the teen said, thinking out loud.

Akiko nodded, "Ok then, let's go." she said as she stood. _Wait what?_

Jason gave her a questionable look, "Uhhh, what do you mean by that?" the teen asked. Akiko turned to him as she grabbed her jacket, "There's a guy out in the city killing firebenders. I think I'd be better by your side then waiting for this guy to show up at my door." she explained.

Jason shook his head as he stood up, "No no no! No way, that's way to dangerous." he said as he stood in front of the door in front of Akiko.

The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Yes I am. Jason you said fire has no effect on this guy right? Even if I used it, I don't think warming him up will help him not melt my face!" she shot back to the teen.

"I'm not debating this! Your staying as far away from me as you can so your safe!" he ordered.

"Who do think your are telling me what to do! This is my choice and I'm making it!" she protested.

"I'm the guy who fights bad guys on a daily basis! And the guy who has the power to stop him!" he pointed out.

"Call the Heroes for Hire then! They can take care of it! Just stay with me and..." she trailed off, swallowing hard as tears started to brim in her eyes. "I'm scared Jason...just don't leave." she said pleadingly.

Jason felt his face drop, "Aki..." he muttered. The teen stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her tightly, "Ok...you can come with me." he said, Aki's head laid against the teen's shoulder.

The girl raised her arms and wrapped them around the teen, "Jason...I...I'm scared." she whispered out, confirming the teen's suspicions.

The teen pressed his lips gently to her forehead, "Don't be. Look I'll come up with something to say to Tenzin so that he can let you stay at the island until this thing blows over." he said, trying to put the girl's worries at ease.

"Your coming to right? I don't want you to go off...not yet." she admitted, burying her head into his shoulder so that he couldn't see the blush on her face.

Jason smiled, "Sure." he said as she pulled away, her face somewhat red. The teen brushed the stray tears away from her cheeks, "I'm sorry I put that in your head babe...but your going to be safe now. I promise." he stated.

…

After a quick 'worried' call to her parents, Akiko had permission to stay over at the island until Carrion had been caught. "God I wish you could just fly us over the stupid bay." the girl muttered as the ferry rocked slightly against the waves.

Jason merely smiled as Akiko clung to his arm, this was part of the reason that he let Akiko come to the island. "You know that this thing is designed not to sink. Ever. Right?" he asked.

Akiko glared at him, "Well then it's just long overdue using it?!" he shot out, making the teen merely chuckle as they docked. The sun hadn't yet set on the city but was heading towards the horizon so Jason had all day to find Carrion once Akiko felt safe at the island.

The ferry knocked against the dock, making Aki jump onto the teen's back. Jason opened his mouth to comment, "Say anything. Anything. And I will not kiss you until school let's out." she threatened, making the young hero's mouth clamp shut with a smile.

After climbing the stairs to the main house, by that time Aki had climbed off Jason, they where met by the sight of the Airbending children racing air scooters. "We should step back. Way back." he said as he saw the kids zoom towards them.

The kids collided into the two teens, Jason getting the girls, which knocked him to the ground, and Aki getting Meelo on her arm. "Jason have you taken Akiko on a date? Do hug her? How much do you kiss her?" Ikki shot out one after another.

Ever since the three had found out about the teen's relationship with Akiko, they had teased, asked questions, and offered 'advice' for it. "Hi strange haired lady." Meelo said from the girl's arm.

Akiko smiled as she picked the boy up and gave him a hug, "Hey yourself squirt." she greeted warmly. Akiko loved the Airbending kids like little siblings, she'd visit them everyday if she didn't have her fear of boats.

Jason sat up and gave each of his cousins a embrace before getting up, "Hey guys. Where's your parents at? We need to ask them a favor." Akiko asked.

Meelo pointed to the main home, "Mommy is making lunch right now and daddy's still working." he explained to the pair.

Jason flashed them a smile before heading towards the house, "Thanks guys! Good luck with your race!" he shouted back as the creased air scooters and zoomed away. Jason turned to the smiling Aki, "My family is weird." he stated.

"Yep. And since when am I the 'strange hair lady'? What's so weird about it?" she asked, twisting a lock between her fingers.

He shrugged, "Don't listen to them. They're young, they don't know beauty when they see it." he said, making the girl give him a smirk.

Akiko wrapped a arm around his, "Keep it up lover boy. A girl loves being called nice things." she said with a wink, making the teen's face redden slightly.

The two entered the house, Akiko sat on the couch in the living quarters while Jason weny into the kitchen, finding Pema humming to herself while she made sandwiches for the kids. "Excuse me ma'am I'm looking for my aunt, she's nice, kind, has three little speed daemons for kids have ya seen her?" he asked, making the woman smile at him.

"Jason, glad to see you. What brings you to the island?" she asked as the teen sat at the counter while she finished making lunch for the kids.

"Umm...it's a little complicated..." he said, scratching the back of his head.

Pema pulled out the seat across from Jason, "Well I'm all ears." she said, giving the teen a supporting look.

Jason sighed, "It all started earlier today-"

…

Carrion was close to his prey, the woman was unleashing wave after way of fire at him, trying to slow him down. Catching the alley that she was trapped in on fire in the process, "Stay away! Stay back you freak!" she shouter as she pulled both her arms back before shooting them forward right in front of Carrion, igniting the entire alley.

The flames danced in front of the woman's face, a smile of relief on her face, "Thank you god..."

"No." a hand erupted from the flames, grabbing the woman by the throat. Carrion sneered from the flames, "God isn't saving you."

Imagined poured from the woman's mind into his, the woman was a taxi driver, she usually did runs by the bay. And she saw...Air Temple Island everyday.

The body dropped to the ground a moment later. "H-H-H-He wasn't lying..." the being muttered as he floated up to the rooftops. The being looked out to the Yue bay, in the center was Air Temple Island.

…

Pema held a hand over her mouth, completely shocked by her nephew's story. Not only had he found something out about his father, but nearly came face to face with something out of a horror story. "-and Aki's...a little put off by the whole thing. I was wondering if it would be ok if she lay low here for a while?" the teen asked.

"Of course Jason. As long as she needs to. We have a ton of rooms in the women's dormitory for her." she replied, giving the teen a look of support.

After telling Akiko she was welcome, she asked Jason to take the girl to the dormitory. After a few directions from the acolytes, the couple found their way to a empty room in the long building. "So ontop of healthy food, this place has rooms for everyone, a beach, training grounds, and a pair hot springs to top it off?" she asked as she laid on the bed.

Jason sat down by the foot of the bed with his web shooter in hand, making sure he had enough webbing to take on Carrion. "Yep. Yes, and of course, why not?" he replied without looking up.

Akiko sat up and looked down towards him with a smile, "You know you can sit up here right? Or did you get some sorta weird, crazy messed up sex talk when you where little?" she asked teasingly, making the teen's cheeks redden at the mention of the act.

"My mom scared the hell out of me when she told me about Hanky Panky. That's all I'm saying." he said with a horrified look in his eye.

Akiko smiled before laying back down, "Public education. Better than the parents version any day of the week." she said, Jason could only nod in agreement as he put his web shooter under his sleeve.

"Can we please stop talking about this? Whitney gives me enough crap about this subject and she doesn't have a filter." he stated, making fe girl let our a snort.

"God I love your friends." she stated.

"Because they utterly embarrass me?" he asked.

Akiko smiled, "Well that and you got a good choice of character." she said.

The teen rolled his eyes, "So...how are you? I mean...do you feel better?" he asked. Aki was scared earlier, and she was actually in danger, but then so was everyone in the city who could firebender.

Akiko sat up and laid down with her head beside Jason's on the bed, "Yeah...thanks for this...I know that it's asking a lot." the girl admitted.

Jason shrugged, "It's ok. Besides it's kinda nice that your here on the island." he said, raising his hand behind his head and finding Aki's, "It's...it's kinda like your...part of the family." he said in a small voice.

Akiko felt her cheeks warm up, "Yeah...I like it too." she whispered loud enough for the two of them to hear it.

Jason's throat felt dry, "You know (cough) you should probably go see if Tenzin is back so you can ask him about that guy." Aki coughed out, breaking the silence.

Jason stood, "Yep...probably should." he said as he headed to the door as Akiko sat up and put her feet on the floor.

"Jason." the teen turned to be engulfed in a embrace by the girl. She pressed her lips to his ear, "I love you..." she whispered before pulling away.

Jason felt his chest hammer at that, Akiko nearly laughed at the big goofy smile he got when he let those words sink in. He closed the small distance between their lips and kissed her, Akiko tilted her head back, giving into the kiss.

Jason pulled away, leaving Akiko with a smile like his on her face, "I love you too." he said, entwining their hands together and giving it a squeeze.

Akiko giggled, "Yeah...I read that." she said as Jason stepped back towards the door. Aki's hand let his slide until their fingertips left one another, Jason exited the girl's room with a huge smile on his face.

…

The sun was beginning to set as Jason watched Oogi land in the courtyard near the main house of air temple island. Jason walked towards the large beast as Tenzin dismounted the bison. "Jason, good to see you my boy." he said, seeing his nephew.

Jason smiled, "Same here Uncle Ten. So Pema told you about your guy's temporary gust?" he asked a little nervously.

Tenzin nodded, "Yes though she left out why. Something about not feeling safe in the city?" he asked.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Well I actually need to ask you about that. What do you know about someone called Carrion?" he asked, making the man's eyes widen slightly. "Looks like a mummy, purple hood? Bag of dust?" he ventured, making the man's eyes widen even more.

"Jason, how do you know that ?" he asked, as far as he knew he's the only one alive who knows of Carrion.

"He attacked Future Industries and wanted to basically kill all firebenders. I told Aki...she's scared so I brought her here." he explained to the man, making his face pale slightly.

He let out a sigh, "Jason. Before I tell you, you need to promise not to breathe a word of this. No newspaper. Nothing." he said sternly.

Jason held his hands up and nodded, "Of course." he said, agreeing with the man wholeheartedly.

Tenzin let out a sigh of relief before turning serious, "When the air nation had gotten the first hints of war with the fire nation, the temples reacted differently. The Eastern temple wanted to try and reach a peaceful solution, the Northern wanted to prepare themselves, and the Southern informed my father of him being the Avatar." he explained.

"The Western temple and a different idea all together." he said rather darkly. "The monks there called upon the spirits to aid them. They preformed a ritual which the spirits bestowed a amount of their power to, but the coat was dear...a human host." he explained, making the teen's eyes widen.

Great, human sacrifice. Would you like a side of lettuce with that heart? Jason thought to himself but kept silent. "Carrion took over the body of one of the monks at the temple, the fire nation invaded but Carrion a scared them off. But when the monks saw what they made, they had to put a stop to it."

Tenzin swallowed, "They told him that the Fire Nation's remaining troops where in a abandoned temple. Carrion never questioned their word so he searched the old temple until his body gave out." he said.

Jason stared at the man, "So your saying that a guy who can read minds didn't bother questioning the people who made him? And that he wasn't suspicious for a moment while he was dying from whatever he died from?" he asked skeptically.

Tenzin raised a eye, "Read minds? What on earth makes you-" he began.

"When I was at the factory, he saw me. I felt this...thing in my head. Then he sad my name." he lied. Well more like withheld the full honest truth...ok he lied.

Tenzin scratched his beard, "Then wouldn't he know about the island then?" he asked. Jason bent his head back, wanting to let out a cry of frustration but held it in when he saw what was in the sky.

"Tenzin...you may want to look up." he said, making the man give him a strange look. The man looked up regardless and nearly let out a gasp of shock.

Carrion hovered a few feet above them in the air and was descending fast. Tenzin stepped beside his nephew as Carrion landed in front of them. He looked at Tenzin with awe, " A-A-Are you a a-Airbender?" he asked the man, completely ignoring Jason.

Tenzin swallowed before nodding, "Yes...I am." he said.

"P-P-P-Prove it." the being demanded, he was not going to be fooled. Not again. Tenzin held his up a open palm and made a sphere of air, making the being's yellow teeth show in what resembled a smile, "Y-you are!"

Tenzin nodded, "Carrion. The war with the Fire Nation is over...you don't need to kill anyone else." he said softly to the being, trying to keep him calm as he possibly could.

Carrion looked at him confused, "They killed the Airbenders! My masters! W-W-Why should we spare them!" he demanded, rage in his eyes.

Jason wanted to run and get Akiko and the others the hell off the island but Carrion would obviously notice that. "Tenzin I think it'd be better if you gave him the whole story. About _everything_?" he asked, emphasizing the word.

Tenzin's face showed that he understood, "Oh! Of course. Carrion, you see around seventy years ago-" he started, getting the being's undivided attention for the time being.

Jason started to back away from the two, he didn't like leaving his uncle alone with Carrion but for now it was the only thing he could do. Once he was out of Carrion's line of sight, he broke out in a sprint towards the main house, finding Pema in the living room, "Jason? What's wrong you look like you seen a ghost?" she asked.

_More like a walking corpse_. "Carrion's here, get the kids and head for the dormitory and tell ten to get out of here." he commanded the now scared woman.

"What are you going to do?" she asked as she got out of her seat. "I'm not leaving you alone here with that thing." she stated firmly.

_I'm going to beat the living hell out of that thing. But first,_ "I need to find Aki. She's the real one in danger." he said before heading back towards the women's dormitory. Jason exited the main house and leapt up onto the roof of the housing and running as fast as he could to Aki's room.

The teen crawled to the window and knocked on it until Akiko slid it open with a tired look on her face, "Hey, good news?" she asked with a small smile.

"Uhhhh...define good? Never mind, we gotta get you outta here. Tall, pale, and ugly is here!" he said, making the smile on her face disappear and was replaced with a look of fear. Without warning, the teen grabbed her and carried her up to the roof, Aki let out a small yelp as Jason sprinted across the roof with her on his back.

The teen landed behind the main house and let her down to the ground, "A little warning would be nice!" she said in a harsh whisper. The two circled around the house and found Pema and the kids by the side exit of the house, "What's the hold up?" the girl asked.

"He's right in the yard! He'll see us." Ikki said with fear in her voice. All the kids looked scared out if their minds, to be fair it was a natural response. But Jason knew that they where scared. Which means he hand to do something.

Jason kneeled down to the three of them, "Look I know you guys are scared." he started, getting the there's attention, " I am too. But I also have courage, and I know you three have it too." he said encouragingly.

Jinora looked up at the teen from the ground, "Will you stay with us?"

He flashed them all a smile, "I'll be with you three every step of the way. Promise." he said, making the three look at each other before giving him a collective nod.

Pema took Meelo in her arms while Jason took both the girl's hands and began to lead then across the courtyard. By now Tenzin was getting to how Avatar Aang started to learn earthbending, he saw his family start on their way towards the stairs off the island.

Jinora and Ikki held Jason's hands in vice grips, not daring to let go for a second. Akiko was right behind him as they slowly made their way towards the stairs. The first step down was about a foot away from them, _This must be one of the longest minutes of my life._

Akiko felt herself sniffle, _Oh you have got to be kidding me! _she thought as she began to gather up air to let out a sneeze. Before she could, Jason, Jinora, and Ikki all covered her nose with their hands. When she didn't sneeze, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.

That was until Ikki abruptly sneezed herself into the air.

Jason face palmed as Carrion looked over towards them. Ikki landed and cowered behind Aki, "Y-Y-You! F-F-Firebender!" he shouted towards the girl, Aki moved the young Airbender behind her as the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Holy crap. He can teleport." she said aloud in awe. It wasn't everyday that someone literally disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

He reappeared right in front of the girl, hand outstretching towards her.

_No!_

Jason didn't think, he acted. He drew his fist back and rammed it into the side of Carrion's face. The blow sent the man stumbling back, he turned back to the teen and glared as he released Jinora's hand and stood in front of Aki, "You even try to touch them and your ass is grass." he growled out.

Carrion teleported right in front of the teen and grabbed his shirt collar before throwing him towards the temple wall, "Jason!" Pema screamed out as the teen crashed through the wall.

Jason was covered with debris but was thankfully not badly hurt. "Well...that actually worked out in my favor." he said aloud. The teen shed his clothes off and pulled his mask down ontop of his head before heading to the window on the other side of the room and crawling to the rooftop.

The being looked over towards Akiko, glaring at him with a small smile on her face with Pema and the kids heading down the stairs, "W-W-What are you s-s-smiling about?" he asked.

Spider-Man came down from above and rammed his feet into the man's back and into the ground, cracking it slightly beneath the force. "I was smiling at that maggot breath!" she shouted before heading after the family down the stairs.

_God I love that girl_. Jason thought as he backflipped off him and landing beside Tenzin, "Spider-Man? How did you-?"

"It involves a rat pigon, a balloon, and a big paper airplane. But that's a story for later. You better go while I deal with sparkles." he said as Carrion rose from the ground with a angry look on his face.

Tenzin stood his ground, "It harmed my nephew. That thing isn't leaving the island." he said menacingly. _Awww, he does care. _Jason thought jokingly, but was truly touched that his uncle cared that much for him.

"Just so we're clear, he's not alive right?" the teen asked.

"No." the Airbender replied before shooting a air blast at Carrion but having little effect.

"Ok. Good. Just means I don't need to pull my punches." the young hero said as he sprung towards Carrion.

The being hovered just above the ground and flared back as Spider-Man landed in front of where he was. He reached into his bag and pulled out the red dust and threw handful after handful at the teen.

The teen kept moving, kicking his feet out on the air to doge the dust and adding some flare to his moves. The dust hit the ground, walls if the temple, and trees, the substance disappearing after a few seconds.

"My grandmother can throw better than you and she's dead! I'm serious because your basically undead so that should be insulting." the teen called out as he shot a web to the top of the bag, cutting his ammunition off. "And how is it you don't run out of that crap? That's just cheating!" he yelled out as Tenzin sent a gust of wind at the being, making him stumble through the air.

Spider-Man shot two webs at him and pulled the man into a fist to the gut, "And FYI." he swung his leg up to his face, "Never." he fallowed up with another punch to the face, "Ever." he uppercutted the man, "Screw with my family!" Jason shot webs to the man once again while in the air and pulled it over his shoulder and drove the man into the ground.

Carrion rose again from the ground, but this time he was...leaking?

The red dust was leaking from what looked like cracks in his face. The teen turned to Tenzin, "Are you sure that-"

"He is already dead Spider-Man. The only thing to do is put him out of his misery." he said as Carrion readied for another round. He vanished in a cloud of red smoke before appearing in front of the hero and striking him right in the chest, sending him skidding back from the blow.

Spider-Man turned over to Tenzin, "Go. In case I don't...just get your family to safety." he ordered. The Airbender could only nod as he made a air wheel and rode away on it towards his family.

Jason did not want to do this. Carrion could be helped, reintegrated into society with enough time. "Carrion. This is my final warning. Give up. Please. This doesn't need to happen." he pleaded with the being.

Carrion glared at Spider-Man with hatred in his eyes. He charged forward and vanished once more, appearing at the teen's side and kicking his ribs before 'poofing' away again. He hit the teen across the face with his claw-like hand, leaving cuts in the mask.

This could go on for a while.

_Ok, Spider Sense if you ever picked a time to show me how useful you are now would be a good time!_ the teen thought frantically as he tried to doge Carrion's strikes. Jason waited until he felt his Spider Sense point behind him.

Spider-Man ducked at the next attack which was a swipe at his head. The teen turned and drew his fist back before hitting the man in the stomach.

He fallowed up by a number of left and right hooks. _I don't want to do this_. Jason thought as he dogged a punch and uppercutted the outstretched elbow, breaking it. Carrion lout out a scream as his arm fell limp to his side, _There has to be another way. There's always another way._ the teen thought

Carrion was breathing heavy, "I-I-I will n-not g-g-give up." he sputtered out.

Spider-Man lowered his hands, "Carrion. Please..." he tried once more.

The being let out a cry as he ran forward towards the teen. The young hero swallowed, "I'm sorry Carrion." the teen whispered as he raised his fist to deliver the final blow.

Jason threw his fist out, connecting with Carrion's face, shattering it.

Red dust poured out the body, making the teen hop away from the body as it turned into nothing but dust. "Eh? I thought that...I mean...he was actually dead that whole time?" he asked aloud.

He assumed that Carrion was wearing the guy like a suit. But if he died the minute that he was taken over by Carrion...then he'd been dead long since he first appeared. The teen walked towards the rubble where he changed into his suit and put on his clothes and headed towards the stairs towards the docks.

Jason cast one last look at the dust before heading down the stairs.

A few leaps down the flights of stairs later, he was walking around the corner to see his family and girlfriend. "Jason!" Pema exclaimed out of relief as the kids ran forward and hugged the teen's legs.

Jason looked a mess. His hair was messy, he had a bruise on the side of his face the size of a apple, his clothes had snares and his pants had a cut in them. The teen leaned down and scooped the three up in a bear hug, "I'm so glad you guys are safe." he said, swing them slightly as Pema and the others rushed forward.

Pema embraced the teen in a bone grinding hug, "Thank the Spirits. Your alive..." she muttered as the teen returned the hug.

Tenzin put a hand on his shoulder, "We're glad your safe." he said gratefully.

And then there was Aki.

The girl looked furious, her blue eyes looking at Jason with so much anger that they could scare off a a Moose Lion. "Tenzin. Pema. Make the kids away before I get hurt." he said before Akiko grabbed the collar of his shirt.

Pema ushered the kids away with Tenzin, they where going to have to have a long talk about what Jason said to Carrion. It world take a five day lecture if Akiko was going to do what they think they where going to do.

Akiko waited until the family was far enough away before she slammed her lips onto Jason's. To say the teen was confused would be a understatement.

Akiko dwelled on the kiss for as long as she could before pulling away for air, "That was...exciting." she said with a small smile, making the teen laugh.

"Yeah...that's a word for it." he said, his lips tugging into a smile as the two stood at the dock. Jason let out a sigh, "Look...what that was...back there...that's not going to be a fluke. If I get found out then-"

Akiko silenced him with another kiss, "I know." she said before connecting their lips again, Jason wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. She barely pulled her lips away, their flesh just barely touching, "And I want this." she said before connecting them once more.

Jason and Aki stood like that for the longest time. Enjoying the feel of each other's lips against their own and letting the setting sun's warmth wash over them.

…

Tenzin and the young hero stood over the small grave that he and Jason had made. In the hole was a bag with the remaining things of dust from Carrion in it. The two agreed that Carrion deserved a burial, "He may have been a killer...but it didn't need to be like this." the teen muttered.

Tenzin sadly nodded, "Indeed...I'll have to tell Lin about this." he pointed out.

Jason nodded, "I'll keep the whole Airbender involvement out of the paper. Don't need anymore dirty reporters roaming the island right?" he asked half jokingly.

Tenzin smiled, "What you did was a brave thing Jason. We're all proud of you." he said, making the teen smile.

The two started on their way back, Jason casting a final glacé at Carrion's final grave before catching up with his uncle. "By the way. How the heck is your temple standing with nothing but paper walls? For all we know I could have taken that house down!" he said.

Tenzin smiled, "Wooden supports."

Jason shook his head, "Oh yeah. That gives me confidence to stay here overnight." he said sarcastically.

As the two walked away, Jason's mind flashed to the sight of Carrion's face shattering by his hand.

I hope your at rest now solider. Your war was over long ago.

**AN: And that was Carrion.**

**He's actually a B villain from the Spider-Man comics. Originally he was a virus in the experiments preformed by Miles Warren, Aka The Jackal, the maker of Spider-Man's clones.**

**And yea I know Jason's dad kinda took a back seat this time around but I'll get more into him in the later chapters. **

**Also a big announcement, I actually have a model of the suit that Akiko suggested already made up. I used the Spectacular Spider-Man base model as a template but that doesn't mean that's what the show is seen as. Now I'll use this suit regardless but when I put it in the story I'll put it in the image up in the corner.**

**And I'll put a link to the new suit in my Character Profile up top so you can all see it. **

**So this was a big chapter and huge step forward in the story. And a I'm sure you've all heard, BOOK FOUR IS COMING OCTOBER 3RD!**

**I am not ready.**

**Thanks for reading the chapter, and as always I really appreciate it when you guys leave reviews, till next time guys. :)**


	24. Chapter 24

The Man Without Fear

AN: I had Trouble Getting this into the Doc Manager from my iPhone so I ask that you all bare with the lack of italics. Sorry guys:(

Akiko lightly swung her foot at Jason's under the table, making him look up from his book. Jason had to go to the library so that he could get some time to study before his math rest next period. Akiko came along mainly because she had nothing to do, "Did you just kick me?"

The girl smirked, "Well technically yes. But it's also a invitation to play footsie." she said with a tad of pink on her cheeks.

Jason looked at her confused, "Just what the hell is footsie? It sounds like a fungal disease." the teen said, making Akiko look at him unbelievingly.

"You've never heard of footsie before?" she asked, believing that he was just pulling her leg.

"Nope." the teen said simply before going back to reading his book.

Akiko kicked his toes again, a bit harder this time. "Footsie is little game couples play. You hit their toes with your toes lightly under a table in a public place." she explained.

Jason looked up from his book slowly, "Ok. A few things. Why the hell is...couple-ish about kicking someone's toes? Second, why does it have to be in public? And three, why in spirits name do they call it footsie of all things in the world?" he asked, clearly confused by the strange concept.

The girl held her face in her hands while she shook her head, "You never had any friends that where girls growing up. Did you?" she asked in a deadpanned voice.

"Nope. Not until you came along that is." he said as he read a sent ace in his book, using his head to do the calculations.

"Just shut up and play along. You'll see why." she said before kicking his toes lightly again. Jason glanced up to her, Aki's hands where in a pleading motion under her chin, her eyes looked like they where shining and her lower lip was trembling.

She was pouting, and it was good.

_God. Why did you make girls so complicated?_ the teen wondered before submitting and swinging his foot to hers and just missing her toes, Jason looked up to Akiko who diverted his gaze, pretending not to have noticed. Jason tried it again, this time he made contact, making Akiko flash a smirk at him before returning the favor.

The teen looked at her with a smirk, he tapped her back. The two carried on with their little under the table exchange as Jason read his book, Aki smiled as they felt their feet still against each other's. "See? Not so bad acting normal huh?" she asked.

The teen flashed her a smile, "It's not bad. It's just hard to do is all." he said with a shrug.

Akiko couldn't help but nod, "Yeah, I get that. Secret identity and all." she said just loud enough for Jason to hear it.

The teen nodded as he went back to reading his book, "Yea. Almost makes me wish I didn't get my powers." he said, honesty in his voice.

Akiko cast a sympathetic look at the teen. Ever since the Carrion incident last week , Jason had been acting different. Well more different from his usual self, "So how's the Future Industries job coming along? I'm kinda surprised it's not the only thing your talking about." she stated, making the teen smile.

He had been Dr. Chapal's assistant on the weekends and even though he only had two days under his belt he was loving it. "It's like a dream come true. Dr. Chapel doesn't need as much help so he let's me work on my own on a few projects." he said happily.

"It's mostly trail testing but soon we're hoping that we'll be able to take the next step. He was thinking by next week, but I was thinking until the week after. We've just started after all so we need to be careful." he prattled off, making Akiko smile at how happy her boyfriend was.

"So...what exactly are you working on?" she asked, noticing he didn't directly say what it was he was working on.

The teen beamed, "Human cell regeneration." he said excitedly.

Aki's eyes widened, "Wait wait, you mean like...growing back bits and pieces of people?" she asked, astounded by the new information.

Jason smiled and nodded, "Basically. We've been using Petri dishes with incomplete cell clusters. Hopefully soon we may be able to use animal testing."

Aki's eyes widened, "Your going to cut off little fluffy animal limbs!" she exclaimed with shock.

"What? No you see they come to us already missing bits." the teen said, putting a ease to the girl's fears. Jason closed his book up and stood, "Come on, I've studied enough and we should head that way." he said as he walked around to her, entwining their hands.

After their confession of love towards each other, the two had become more bold in their displays of affection towards each other. They'd walk down the halls with each other's arms entangled, show a kiss if affection now and then, and just sit close together for the fun of it. And they both loved it.

The two exited the library and head straight for the classroom, "So what's up with you?" Akiko asked as the turned a corner.

Jason raised a eye, "What do you mean? Other than the insane life of mine?" he asked.

"I mean...look, you said that Chapal worked with your dad but you haven't said a word about him. It's a little worrying." she explained more thoroughly.

Jason looked down towards the tiled floor, "Well I went this far without knowing a thing about the guy. What's the rest of my life?" he joked lightly, making Akiko stop.

The girl grasped his jacket and turned him towards her, "Look, I know what bad dads are like." she said, thinking back to her own father, "But I still care for him, he's just...messed up you know? And I know you want to know about him even if you don't admit it." she stated, looking into Jason's eyes.

The teen looked at her serious face before smiling, "Ok fine. I'll think about asking about him. Now come on, let's not get into a heartfelt conversation in the hallway where anyone can drop in on us." he said as they resumed their walk to class.

The entered the classroom at sat at their desks beside each other with Xang and the others behind them as the P.A. came on._ 'Attention all students. Please stand by as we tune to a public announcement form the Republic City Council.'_ the speaker rang out.

Jason and Akiko shared a look, _This can't be good. I just know-Wait! Don't finish think that, you know it'll screw you over. Stop!_ Jason thought to himself.

The speaker let out a short buzz before switching to the radio, _'Greetings Republic City. This is councilman Tarrlock of the Republic City council.'_ the speaker started.

_Goddamit I did it again!_

Jason wanted to smack his head against the desk but kept himself from doing so._ 'As many of you already know. The vigilante known to the public as Spider-Man has been terrorizing the city for the past few months with little success to capture him.'_ the speaker started.

Jason wanted to defend himself but he realized he would both look very stupid arguing with a speaker and also blow his cover. 'In light of these short comings. The Council has hereby put forth a Task Force to apprehend Spider-Man.'

This was met from out roar. Only it was from the students. "Spidy saved my aunt from a car crash, he's not a bad guy."

"He beat that Doc Ock guy. I bet the police couldn't do that of they tried."

"He saved my kitten from a tree." Jason heard from around the room. He couldn't help but smile from the impact he had on their lives.

Of course that was less than half the class.

"Thank the spirits. I was worrying he'd go and swipe someone else up off the streets."

"No kidding. The freak should just get out of town. What if what he's got is contagious?"

"Better they just put a end to him. Don't want him going around hitting people." Akiko was about to turn at that last comment but Jason grasped her wrist, making her look at him as he shook his head.

She leaned over towards him, "So what are you going to do now?" she asked.

'Any information about Spider-Man should be turned into the police so that they can apprehend this dangerous criminal. Thank you , that is all.' the speaker finished while the class still argued about the entire thing.

Jason slid his hand down Aki's wrist to her hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm going to do something reckless and stupid. Like usual." he said with a smile.

Akiko gave a small smile of support, "Just make sure you don't go get yourself killed hero." she whispered before leaning over and pecking his cheek.

"Tarrlock that was low move. Even for you." Tenzin stated heatedly as he walked with the councilor and Chief Bei Fong of the police force. "You had no right to organize a Task Force without the rest of the council's approval." he said sternly.

Lin nodded in agreement, "He's right, and I'm not happy with you calling me and my men incompetent all over the city." she growled out to the councilmen.

Tarrlock stopped before the door to the council chambers, "I am sorry for that Tenzin but you where the only one missing from the council and it was unanimous." he explained before turning to Lin, "And Chief Bei-Fong you must admit that your men have yet to show any results with his capture." he said.

Lin couldn't help but agree, as much as it pained her. She had a zero tolerance stand on Vigilantism, when people start taking the law into their own hands then what stops them from taking lives as well.

"I assure both of you that this is a temporary measure. Spider-Man will show up, and the Task Force will take him in and bring him before us before you two know it." Tarrlock said with a smile as he opened the door to the council room.

"Sooner than you think ponytail head!"

The three looked above the round table in shock, Spider-Man himself laid in a makeshift hammock above the council table between two pillars. A huge grin on his face from the looks that the three people gave him, "Come on then I'm yours, take me now!" he said dramatically.

Lin didn't take it as one.

The Chief shot her cables to the wall crawler at high speeds, aiming for his arms and legs. Spider-Man reacted quick and leapt into the air and shot webbing to the ends of the cables, sticking them to the hammock, "Joking! Joking! Jeez lighten up." the teen said.

Lin tried to reel in the cables but she only pulled herself forward, "Don't bother. My webs are pretty strong and I hear those gizmos of yours aren't cheap." The teen said as he crawled on the ceiling to the councilmen and hung in front of them by a web between his feet, "Now they say that sticks and stones my break my bones but words may never hurt me but I'll tell you right now that is wrong. So why all the mean words?" he asked.

Tarrlock glared at the masked teen, "Your a vigilante who needs to be brought to justice. What more is there to it?" he asked.

Spider-Man tapped his finger to his chin, "More too it...is there more- Oh! Right, what about the fact a few weeks back you hired Luke Cage and Iron Fist to try and bring me in? Or did that slip your mind?" he asked.

Tenzin turned to the other councilman, "It must have because he failed to mention this to us." he said with irritation.

Lin looked back to the councilman, "Tarrlock, care to explain?" she asked, turning once she expelled enough cable so she could turn freely.

"Ooooooh, busted." The teen taunted, making Tarrlock glare at him with malice.

"It was better than using people's taxes to take care of him like we've been forced to now." he said to Tenzin. He turned to the teen, "Your no better than the 'criminals' you claim to capture. You hide behind a mask because your too afraid to show your face, and you show no regard for the law." he stated.

The councilman didn't know it but Jason was glaring at him under his mask, "I don't know what your problem with me is so ill just say this. I've never killed a man, I've never stolen from anybody, and I will never go down to their level. And everything I do is for the greater good, if I showed my face, then my family and friends would be put in danger." he said to the man.

"Your not grateful? Fine, I couldn't care less. But don't plaster me as a bad guy just because you don't get your way." he said.

The teen started to climb his web, "Oh, and your just a sore little loser who got his butt webbed to a building." he stated as he climbed along the ceiling. "Those webs will dissolve in a hour or so Ms. Bei-Fong." he said as he crawled to the open skylight.

Lin glared at the teen as he exited the building before looking back to Tarrlock, "We'll discuss this later." she said with a nod of agreement from Tenzin.

The teen climbed onto the rooftop and started on his way towards the Marvel.

"Ah, now I feel better." the teen said with relief as he walked towards the ledge of the building. That was when he saw a shadow pass over him, the teen looked up to see a airship with the Republic City seal on the sides of it.

'Spider-Man. Give yourself up quietly and you won't be harmed.' the loudspeakers blared to the young hero below.

"What did I say? I said that this would be a stupid idea and I did it anyway. This is what I get for being impulsive." the teen scolded himself before running towards the ledge of the rooftop and jumping off, fired a webline to a building and swinging away from the airship.

The teen swung over traffic as the airship perused the wall crawler. The teen kicked off the webline, going over rooftops before shooting another web to the edge of a rooftop and swinging past a water tower, "For a blimp that thing moves pretty well. No way I could outrun it." the teen stated as he let go of his web and latched to a flagpole and swung overtop it and went the way he came.

"But I bet it fricking sucks at turning on a dime." he said as he landed on the water tower he passed moments ago and leaping off it. The airship was busy turning as Jason jumped to the streets and swung around a corner of a building, escaping them for now.

"I seriously can't believe the council voted on this. I mean how many lives has Spider-Man saved?" Whitney asked the teen as they entered the elevator of the Marvel.

Jason shrugged, "I honestly have no idea. Maybe like a hundred?" he guessed. Jason didn't exactly keep a record of who he saved on what day, he honestly didn't care how many people he saved, he just cared that he saved them.

Whitney rolled her eyes, "You get my idea. They should be grateful, instead they order a manhunt out on him. God I can't imagine how Spider-Man feels about all this" She said as she pressed on the button to the top floor.

How about pissed off and wanting to bust some heads together? the teen thought as the elevator stopped on the desired floor. The two stepped out of the metal box to see a man waiting at Whitney's desk.

He had a beige trench coat, brown/greeting hair, a simple suit, and bulky glasses on like the ones Jason used to wear. Whitney smiled, "Hey Bali, good to see ya." she said, giving the man a one armed hug as the teen watched the two.

The man smirked, "Always a pleasure Whitney." he said in a gruff voice.

Whitney turned to the young hero with a smile, "Bali, this is Jason. Guy who writes all the weird stuff. Jason this is Bali Urich, an old timer who works here." she said introducing the pair of them.

Jason shook the man's hand, "Urich? Like the guy who did that story on the Triads' money laundering?" he asked, making the man smirk.

"Well I'm glad you read the worthwhile articles. Whitney tells me your working for more to work on." he said to the teen. Thank you Whitney, this is just what I need right now to take my mind off my crazy life.

Jason nodded, "Yeah not many weird things in the city ya know? I could use something normal for a change." he said truthfully. With that Task Force out looking for him, it's best that he lay low for a while.

Bali thought for a moment, "Tell you what. I hear that there's a reported Red Monsoon hideout in a old little bar near Hell's Kitchen. May be worth a look at, I got my own leads to fallow." he said, getting a shrug from the teen.

"Sure thing Mr. Urich. I'll take a look tonight." the teen said as he sat down at his desk to write about the Task Force.

Akiko sat on her boyfriend's couch as he mixed chemicals together to create his webbing formula. He probably wasn't going to be using much for the foreseeable future so better to stock up on it now rather than later. "So you just hung there, right in the middle of city hall?" she asked before snickering, "That's fricking funny. How'd they react to it?" she asked.

Jason smiled as he turned to Aki, "About what'd you expect, shocked, surprised, and...well the police lady kinda scared me." he admitted. Akiko gave him a look, "Hey I thought her eyebrows where in a state of utter hate." he said with a small shutter.

Akiko leaned over and wrapped her arms around the teen, "Oh don't worry my big hero. I'll protect you from the mean looking lady." she said playfully, making the teen roll his eyes.

The teen clasped his hand over hers, "Yeah no doubt about it...well scary lady or not I still got that Task Force of hers on my tail." he said as Akiko put her chin on his shoulder, watching as he poured a set amount of a clear liquid into a small beaker.

"Yea. So what's the plan? Make like another superhero identity or something?" she questioned jokingly.

The teen put the lid on the beaker and put the glass on the table. "I'll just take a few days off from being Spidy. That's all." he said as he let the chemical compound bond.

Akiko sat on the floor beside him and smiled, "So, whatcha gonna do with all that time off?" she asked, crossing her arms, laying them on his shoulder and putting her head on her arms.

Jason turned to her smiling face, giving her one back, "I'll have find something to do." he stated. The two's noses where just bushing past each other, "You have any ideas for me?" he asked, raising his hand and sliding around her side.

Akiko's eyes closed as their faces inched closer together, "Maybe a few." she said, her breath brushing against Jason's lips.

Jason closed the distance between the two. Aki's soft lips moved against Jason's more solid ones, enjoying the feel of the different textures against their lips. The teen pulled Aki closer to him with his one hand, the girl let out no protests as she leaned over and pulled his head alongside hers.

Her head was in front of his now, Aki put her hand against his other shoulder as Jason put his spare hand on the other side of her waist as she leaned over, flodong her legs together to sit on as she leaned her upper body over to him.

Akiko probed the young hero's lips with her tongue, asking permission to enter, Jason parted his lips and let her without a moment's hesitation. She tentatively touched the teen's tongue with her's, making his appendage come alive. The two entwined their tongues, both enjoying the new territory immensely.

Akiko leaned forward, making the teen's head arch back into the couch and deepen the kiss. Jason slid one of his hands around her back and ran it up her spine, making the girl moan at the contact.

POP!

The two nearly jumped away from each other at the sound of the web fluid stabilizing. The two glanced at the beaker before looking back at each other with a light blushed on their cheeks. "Well...that was a experience." Akiko said awkwardly as she sat down beside him.

Jason chuckled warmly, "Yep...it was." he replied, a smile on his face as he reached out to her the web formula.

Akiko smiled as well, "So...you gotta actually work tonight. That's a little weird." she said.

"It's weird that we both think that me doing something normal is weird." Jason pointed out.

Akiko nodded, "Ok yeah that's a good point." she stated before looking over to the teen. "I bet you five Yuans you turn Spidy tonight for some reason." she said cheekily.

Jason sent her a annoyed look, "I'm laying low for now."

"You also have the guiltiest conscious that I've ever seen. Your suiting up tonight eventually." she said knowingly with a smile. Jason rolled his eyes as he grabbed his web shooters from the table and loaded the web fluid into the canisters.

"Fine. If I have to go Spidy I'll give you give bucks. Happy?" he asked.

Akiko pecked his cheek, "Immensely." she said happily. Jason rolled his eyes as he put the devices in his pockets before going to put his ingredients away. Jason honestly had no problem with Akiko staying at his place when he's not home, he trusted her with his identity so this wasn't a real longshot.

"Love you." he said as he pecked her forehead before heading to the door if the apartment.

"You too." Akiko called out before the door shut, getting into a comfortable position on the couch to take a small nap.

I think watching paint dry would be more exciting than this. Jason thought as he lazily watched the old bar from the rooftop of a building across the street. Above him was a billboard with a cross of we Spider-Man's mask. Beside it had the words, 'Republic City is no place for bugs' and Jason couldn't help but approached the irony.

Jason had a midnight snack beside him of dumplings and a water that he had been eating at for about a half hour. "God if this was more exciting I think I'd slip into a coma. This is what Urich does all day? How has he not quit!?" the teen complained.

By now he'd be in there busting up whatever it was going on. But he wasn't doing that now for two reasons, he wasn't ready to deal with a Task Force right at this moment, and more importantly he didn't want to lose five bucks to his girlfriend.

The teen let out a sigh before laying down on the rooftop, he glanced at the clock tower in the distance, it was 10:25 p.m. "I think I may have to consider the fact that I'm going to have to wake up tomorrow for school. I should get going." the teen said to himself as he sat up.

He looked back to the bar, movement catching his eyes. On the side of the building was someone climbing up the side. Not like Jason does by just clinging to the wall, but using footholds like the windows. "What the-" he watched as the figure climbed onto the roof and disappeared from sight.

Jason watched for a few minutes, waiting for something, anything to happen. He got his wish when a guy was thrown out the first story window of the bar. "My stupid mouth. I hate you." he said to himself as he changed into his Spider-Man suit and webbing his clothes up.

The teen jumped to a streetlamp, swinging around the metal bar and flinging himself towards the building. Unaware of the people in the street below. One of them rushed to the nearest phone booth and dialed in 9-1-1. "Hello police? I just saw tat Spider guy in Hell's Kitchen. He's heading to a bar-"

Spider-Man landed beside the man who came out the window, "Geeze I heard of bartenders with bars for late bar tabs, but this is a little excessive." The teen said aloud before jumping into the bar.

That may have been a mistake.

The room was filled with big, angry looking men. "Uhhh...I'm here for the pool contest?" he stated weakly as the crowd rushed towards him. Jason spring towards them, bashing his fists into the sides if two men's heads as he did.

The teen flipped in midair and brought his feet crashing into the chest of another, "Now look," he ducked as a bottle was thrown at him, swiping his feet horizontally to kick a pair of feet out, "I know tensions are high-" his spider sense went off.

The teen sprayed a man with webbing as he tried to make a grab for the young hero, "but violence is never the answer." he finished as he pulled the man with both hands on the web around, knocking others aside before tossing him into a table.

Spider-Man turned to another man, just as he was about to throw a punch, a red club with a string on the end knocked him on the side of his face. The teen fallowed the line back to what he could only describe as the weirdest thing he's seen today.

A man in a dark red suit stood looking at the teen. On his heat was two D's, he had a club in one hand with the retreating rope club in the other with a pouch on each leg for them. But what caught the teen's attention was the headwear the guy had a dark red mask with bright red eyes. And small horns on his forehead.

"Uhhh...ok yeah I'm drawing a blank here. What are ya? The Duel welding Defender?" he asked as he hopped into the air, split kicking two men in the face.

The man swung his club into the side of a man's face, "Who the hell are you?" he asked as he jumped over a few men, stepping on their heads a he did so. "Wait...how old are you?!" he asked as he looked over to the teen.

Spider-Man landed hands first on the floor, swinging his feet through the air and onto the sides of one of the men's heads before pilling him down, over his body and facepalm ting him into the floor. "Does that really matter at the moment? When we're surrounded by big bad, what I'm assuming are triad members?" he asked.

The man swung his clubs into two men's guys before hitting their faces. He pulled his arms up over his head and dropped his elbows to the back of their heads, "It matters because you sound like someone who just hit puberty." he stated as he connected the clubs together, the ends extending into a staff.

He twirled it in the air, knocking four men in the sides of their faces. "Hey forgive me. I didn't know you didn't have awkward teenage years." he stated as he uppercutted a man into a table. Oh wait...crap!

The man's eyes widened under his mask, "A teenager?! And your doing this?! On a damn school night?" he asked with anger as he kicked a man in the jaw.

Spider-Man webbed the last man to a wall. "Well Spider-boy doesn't have a nice ring to it as Spider-Man." he explained to the horned man, "So who are you?" he asked the horned man as he disconnected the staff and put them in his holsters on the sides of his legs.

"DareDevil. And you should stop while your ahead." he stated firmly.

Jason knew when he was being talked down to. And even though Ava thought him to respect his elders, this guy was one to talk, "So let me get this straight. A masked Vigilante is telling me to stop being a masked Vigilante?" he asked crossing his arms in front of the man.

Daredevil stood a few inches taller than the hero but Jason held his ground as though they where the same height. Than let out a sigh, "Look, your a kid. You should be in school, not doing...this." he said gesturing around the room to the unconscious men.

Spider-Man smirked under his mask, "I am. And I already studied for my math quiz tomorrow." he said pointedly to the man.

The man stood silent for a moment, "Your telling the truth." he said with genuine surprise.

The teen rubbed the back of his head, "Yea. Let me tell ya it's not the-"

"Spider-Man. This is the police. Come out with your hands over your head and surrender." the two turned to the bright lights that suddenly shined through the windows of the building.

The two took cover beside the window, Spider-Man peered outside to the police outside. They had the front of the bar completely surrounded with police crushers and officers with blocks of earth floating in midair. "Awww, my adoring fans." the teen lightly joked.

Daredevil looked to the ceiling, "They have a airship overhead, ready to drop to the roof." he looked to the the side door leading to a alleyway, "They're stacking men up by the door, ready to breach too." he said, making the teen look at him strangely.

"How the...never mind, superpowers and all that." he said as he made his way to the side door and looked around. The teen looked around for something to block the door with, his eyes landed on a pool table on it's side.

"Ok. I think I got a way out of this." the teen said, making Daredevil look at him questionably.

"What do you got in mind?" he asked.

The metal benders burst through the door, arms at the ready. They formed a circle so that they wouldn't be open for a surprise attack. One of them held their arm up, signaling them to stop, behind one of the overturned pool tables was a red looking cloth.

The men cautiously approached the overturned table, none of them noticing the two figures on the ceiling. Daredevil was using his grappling hook to keep himself suspended in midair above the door that the men came in from while Spider-Man just clung to the ceiling. The man lowered himself to the ground slowly while the teen crawled through the open doorway.

The men used Earthbending to knock the table aside before surrounding the figure.

Just a man with a red bandanna on his head.

The men turned to the sound of the shutting door, three of them rushed forward and tried to open it but to no use, it was webbed to the doorframe on the other side.

Daredevil shot his grappling hook to the rooftop, pulling himself up the side of it as Spider-Man leapt up beside him. "Ok I'll admit, that was a good plan for a kid." he said as they ran across the rooftop.

"Teenager." Spider-Man pressed.

"Is there a difference?" the man asked as the two leaped over a alleyway.

"Yea, there's more hair on my body now than when I was a kid. Trust me, I noticed." The teen stated with a small shutter at the memories.

The two stopped by a water tower, Jason slinging to the side of it. Daredevil looked up to the teen, "Difference or not. Your still not a adult, and with the police after you the best thing you can do right now is hang that costume of yours up." he said sternly.

The teen rolled his eyes under his mask, "That's what I was doing until I saw a guy go flying out a window. What was that all about anyway?" he questioned. Jason had to break up a handful of bar fights but this was the first time he found another costumed hero in the mist of it all.

Daredevil leaned back against the leg of the water tower, "I was looking at a lead for someone. The Kingpin." he said, getting the teen's attention.

"Wait wait wait. This guy wouldn't happen to be one of the biggest crime lords in all the city. Also be he the one who has been sending superviallns to try and kill me is he?" he asked, surprising the man from his knowledge of the crime lord.

"I'm guessing your trying to find out who he is too?" he asked the teen.

The teen landed beside the man, "Oh I am so in. I've been meaning to get some payback on this guy." he said. Daredevil gave the teen a stern look, "Look you can want me along on this or not. I'll just fallow you either way." he stated.

Daredevil let out a sigh, "Fine. Before you came along, I managed to get some information on where one of his top lieutenants are." he said as he walked towards the ledge. He turned back to the teen with a small smirk, "Try and keep up kid." he said before shooting his grappling hook to the edge of a building and swinging on it.

Spider-Man ran after him before shoot a webline to the side of the same building, "I'm starting to like this guy." the teen said to himself.

Spider-Man corckscrewed through the air above the buildings of Republic City as Daredevil ran alongside a building with his grappling hook attached to the roof of the it.

The red costumed crime fighter landed on a rooftop access door. Spider-Man landed on a radio antenna sticking out of the roof, spinning around it slightly. "That's the place. It's where they sort their extortion money at during the night while they get it during the day." he explained, pointing to the old factory.

"So what's the plan? Bust in there and find the guy running the place? That sounds way to easy, seriously that kinda worries me." Spider-Man stated as he looked at the factory.

Daredevil shot the teen a pointed look, the teen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I just say crap like that to amuse myself, sorry." he apologized to the man.

The man in red shot his grappling hook to a flagpole before swinging across the street to the rooftop of the factory. Spider-Man fallowed suit, swinging from a gargoyle before letting go of the line and landing beside the man with a thud, "Shhhh! Do you not know what the element of surprise is?" he hissed.

"Ok if you where down there what would you think that noise was? Could be a rat knocking over a jar or something." he said in defense.

"I'd know." he stated as he concentrated, tapping his finger lightly against the roof. His ears picking up the sound from the tap.

"How exactly?" the teen asked, clearly confused by the man's answer.

Daredevil felt the vibrations go throughout the factory, giving him the dimensions of the old building, the small tap carried waves down towards the factory floor where the men where moving about. Their footsteps showing their height and build, one man looked down to the factory floor from the manager's office, that was they're man.

"Trust me. I'd know." he said as he stood. "There's twelve men inside on the ground floor, three on the catwalk, each with a waterpouch on them. There's one man in the manager's office, he's the one we're after." he said, making the teen's jaw nearly fall off.

"B-but...you...how...men..." the teen muttered out. There was absolutely no possible way that someone could guess that with so much detail.

Daredevil couldn't stop the smile on his face, "You have you'r super powers and I have mine. I'll take care of the men on the catwalk while you distract the men on the ground floor. Sound like a plan?" he asked, getting a firm nod from the still shocked teen.

Jason watched as the man quietly sprinted towards the back of the building. Thank goodness this guy is on my side. The teen thought as he leapt up towards the smoke stack and rebound off it before diving towards a clouded up window.

The teen smashed through the glass and landed loudly on the ground floor, "Oooh look what I found. A bunch of thugs and money. How refreshing, have any of you guys thought of working in accounting?" the teen asked the the men dropped what they where doing and charged towards the teen.

The teen doing towards one of the men, driving his kneecap into his face, sending him crashing into one of the rotted tables, sending Yuans scattering into the air, "Jackpot! I won the jackpot!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he threw his elbow back into another triad.

One of the men stomped their foot into the ground, making a collection of rocks rise and one by one shot them at the young hero. Spider-Man narrowly dogged and swung his limbs in order to doge the rocks.

As Spider-Man got the attention of the men on the ground floor, the three waterbenders on the catwalk drew from their pouches. "Excuse me." the three turned in time to see Daredevil sideswipe a man off the metal walkway. He quickly drew his clubs and attached them together with a string before throwing it at the man behind the second waterbender.

The red costumed fighter pulled back on the line, making it wrap around the second man's neck and pulled him in front of him as the third man he attacked fired water at him and froze the body of his partner. Daredevil drop kicked the man in the chest, shattering the ice as he clutched the sides of the railing with both hands.

He swung his legs back towards the ground and looked at the last man, terrified of his abilities, "You wanna give up?" he asked. The man nodded before running away. Daredevil smirked, "Smart choice."

As Daredevil made his way towards the office, Spider-Man landed on the railing and walked alongside him, "Well that was a experience. I think we really reached out to them." he said as they both looked down to the men unconscious on the ground.

The two approached the office door before Daredevil could grasp the knob, Spider-Man's Spider Sense went off like a bell. "Look out!" the man said as he pulled the teen out of the way of the door as it blew open.

The two recovered and Spider-Man covered the man with webbing as he tried to make a run for it. Daredevil walked over to the man and picked him up by the webbing, "I do not appreciate trying to be blown up. So here's how it's going to go, spill what you know and you keep your teeth." he said threateningly.

The man glared back before spitting at the man. Just as Daredevil drew his fist back, the younger hero stopped him, "Hold it. Let me try something." he said as he grabbed the man and crawled up the wall.

"Woah woah! Hey! Le me go! Let me go!" he demanded to the teen as he started to crawl on the ceiling. He sprayed a thin strand of webbing to the ceiling and attached it to the soles of his shoes.

"Now listen up. I'm going to give you a little lesson here." The teen started. He pointed to the web holding him to the ceiling, "Belive it or not, spider silk is actually stronger than steel." he explained.

The man rolled his eyes, "So what? Big deal, we still stomp spiders." he sneered at the teen, "And I can't wait till I get a chance to squish you." he said slowly, trying to get his point across.

"Look I've heard so many of those stupid squish jokes I could care less. Pay attention." he demanded. "Now, how do you break spider webs so easily? It has nothing todo how strong you are, it's tensile strength. Eventually when you pull enough at them. They start to snap." he said as he reached for the web connecting him to the ceiling.

The teen plucked at the strand, making the man's body jerk downward slightly, making him yelp, "Hey hey hey! Stop!" another jerk down, "P-P-Please stop!" pluck. "OK OK OK! I'LL TALK I'LL TALK!" he yelled out.

The teen stood on the ceiling, "Ok. Who's the Kingpin? That'd be a really, really good start." he asked, wanting to get this out of the way with as quickly as he could.

The man nervously looked down, "If I say so then he'll kill me." he muttered.

Jason cast the man a sorrowful look behind his mask, "No, you can go into witness protection and you can be safe." the teen said, trying to reassure the man.

"It won't work because the Kingpin is one of the councilors of Republic City." he said, making both the crime fighter's eyes widen.

Son of a bitch..."Which one?" he asked heatedly, "Which one is it?" he already had a good guess.

The man sighed, "Tarrlock...councilman Tarrlock is the Kingpin." the man said solemly.

The teen paced the wall of the building with a grim look under his mask, "That cheeky no good son of a bitch is the guy whose been out for me. And he's just using the Task Force as a excuse." he said angrily to Daredevil, who sat cross legged on the ledge above.

The man snorted, "Congratulations. Your one day older in the real world." he said, making the teen look up to him. "Almost anyone can be corrupted by money, power, and whatever they want. It's just a matter who provides it for you." he said wisely.

Jason scaled the wall to the ledge up beside him. "So what now? I doubt the police will believe the guy." he said. Accusing a council member is the equivalent of putting a big target on the back of your head.

Daredevil nodded, "Your right. But we know now, so we know who we're fighting against." he said just before a clock tower rang in the distance, signaling midnight. He turned to the teen, "We've done all we could tonight. There's still tomorrow to work on. I'll find you." he said before raising and swan diving off the ledge before firing his grappling hook and swinging away.

Spider-Man sighed, "Yea, sleep sounds like a good idea right about now." the teen said as he decided to rest for the remainder of the evening.

The teen leapt off the side of the building and shot a webline to a wall, swinging over the roads below as he began his way home.

"Are you absolutely sure? I mean positive?" Tarrlock asked into the recover of his phone. He wasn't expecting a direct line to him at this time of night, much less on his 'other' line.

"Yes sir. The man overheard them talking about it. Don't worry, he's already been silenced." The male voice on the other end of the line said.

"What about the one who told Spider-Man and his friend?" he asked. He knew the odds of the police actually believing the man was slim but he wasn't a man to take gambles.

"I'll find him by tomorrow. Don't worry. You know how good I am at this." the voice said, making a small bit of relief go over Tarrlock.

The councilman sighed, "I'll add the payment to your fee when I can. Be sure you get it done Bullseye." he said sternly before hanging up on the phone.

"Pay up." Akiko said, holding out her hand as she and Jason walked to school together. She read about the entire bar affair this morning in the paper, to which ironically Jason managed to send in before he got home last night.

Jason hesitantly dug into his pocket, "For the record I never fully agreed to this." he pointed out. Akiko's hand didn't fall, "Can I pay it back with making out?" he pleaded, getting only a smack to his arm in response.

The teen handed her the money, "Thank you sweetie." she said as she pocketed the cash and leaned over to peck his cheek. "So what was the deal with the guy in red? Daredevil?" she asked.

Jason shrugged, "I just kinda ran into the guy. But he was able to tell exactly how many men where in that old factory without looking inside. I don't get how." he said. That was what he still couldn't figure about the man, he said that he had super powers but Jason didn't see any obvious ones last night.

Akiko thought for a moment, "Maybe he was a earthbender? I hear Xang talk about trying to learn about seeing with his feet or something weird like that." she said, recalling their talk with Xang on the matter.

Jason shrugged, "Maybe. But I'm more focused on the fact that I'm with my girlfriend right now and less on my crazy weird life." he said as he reached for the girl's hands, entwining their fingers together.

Akiko smiled as she squeezed his hand, "Your life is always going to be crazy and weird. No stopping it right?" she asked with a small smile.

Jason flashed her one back, "Probably. As much as I hate it." he said as the two rounded the corner towards school.

"Excuse me, are you a Mr. O-rou?" a voice called from behind them. The couple turned to see a man with ginger colored hair, a nice suit, and a red cane. His eyes where covered by a pair of dark red spectacles.

The teen nodded, "Um...yes. That's me, I'm sorry, have we met sir?" the teen asked albeit with some caution.

The man smiled, "My name is Yuji Murdock. We met last night, talked about 'What a kid like you was doing out working'?" he asked, making Jason's jaw nearly drop.

He looked over to Akiko, she had a look of concern from the face that Jason had on. "Would you excuse us for a sec?" he asked, Yuji gave them a nod, letting the teen and girl walk away a few feet before turning to face each other, "Look I need us to cover for me." he said.

Akiko glanced back to the man then back to the teen, "Is he-?"

"I think so. And I need to have a little chat with him." he stated, albeit with a bit of agitation in his voice.

Akiko nodded before leaning forward and pecking his cheek, "Love you. Stay safe." she said before heading towards the school, passing the man and casting a glance at him.

Jason glared at the man, "Do you know where I live?" the teen demanded, wanting to know how much he knew about him.

Yuji have him a strange look, "What? No of course not." he said.

Jason glared at the man, "You realize that this, what your intruding on, is my life right?!" he said aloud. Jason made it a point not to have his two lives mix at all, that also entailed other apparent superheroes intruding in on his life.

Yuji raised his hands in defense, "Look Jason. I really am sorry-"

"Which you should be! Look I don't mean to be rude but couldn't this have waited until I got suited up or whatever?" the teen asked.

The man sighed, "I'll admit. That may have been better, but I think the sooner you learned that the Kingpin had put a hit out on us the better." he said, making the teen let out a groan of annoyance.

The teen ran a hand down his face, "Of course. Why not? Because today couldn't get any better." the teen muttered. He was expecting to have a nice, relaxing day with his friends and girlfriend.

"But this may be a good thing." the man said, making the teen look at him like he was scuicidal, "Whoever is after us is just a hired blade. He may give up Tarrlock if we capture him." he explained.

Jason thought it over for a second before nodding, "Well I wasn't planning on being live bait until next week but I can make a exception this time." he said jokingly.

He looked down to the cane that Yuji held in his hand, "Your probably wondering how I can fight when I'm like this right?" he asked, waving his cane back and forth.

Jason shook his head, "Well Metalbending was created by a blind twelve year old girl. And I have super Spider Powers, and after a few months of this I'm about ready to accept anything." he said, shrugging his arms.

Yuji chuckled, "Yea that's a fair point. But I don't use seismic sense to see." he started, "When I was young I had a accident involving some chemical waste, it made me blind but gave me new abilities." he explained.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Kinda makes me getting bit by a spider no big deal. So how did you find me anyway? Your kinda out of Hell's Kitchen way." he asked,

Yuji smirked as he and Jason walked towards the school, "That was pure coincidence. I was on my way to a nearby courthouse when I heard you talking with your friend around the block." he explained.

Jason was obviously surprised by that from his jaw nearly dropping, "Look as much as I want to step further out of my comfort zone, I need to get to school. Good luck with your case or whatever." he called back as he started on his way to the school.

Yuji seemed to watch the teen as he headed towards school, if he did t have his powers, he probably would never have guessed that the kid was Spider-Man.

Jason and his friends sat contently at their usual table, all enjoying the lunch that Lee had brought in with Xang. The earthbender had gotten the idea when he went to get Lee to walk to school with and saw that they where already making food for later that day. "Lee, tell your parents I love their cooking." Kong said as he slipped on his noodles.

Jason nodded in a agreement, "I think this may be the highlight of my day." he said truthfully, between having to deal with a hit man later that day and meeting Yuji Murdock kinda stirred him up.

Akiko softly elbowed him, "Hey don't be such a downer. So you gotta work late, so what?" she asked with a knowing shrug. Jason had already informed her of his problem.

Instead of telling him not to put himself in the line of fire she smiled, 'Well I'd hate to be the guy who has two superheroes after him. Especially since you kick butts on a daily basis.'

Akiko knew by now that Jason could easily take on little small time thugs without much issue. And Jason has shown that he can basically take on any supervillain without much problem most of the time.

The teen reached his hand over and squeezed her hand, flashing her a small smile which she returned. "Ok it was fine at first, but you two really need to get a room or something." Xang said, making the two teens blush deep red at the implication.

"Shut up Xang." Akiko stated, trying to fight the blush on her cheeks.

The earthbender raised his hands in a surrender like way, "Just calling them like I seem 'em." he said in his defense.

Kong rolled his eyes at his friend's comment, "We're all adults here, don't need to go saying stuff like that dude." he said.

Jason's eyes widened in realization, "Holy crap I forgot." he stated in disbelief, making the other occupants of the table stare at him.

"Uh oh...what? Last time it was something very sad and I do not want my mood to be ruined." Lee said as he gave the teen a worried look.

Jason shook his head, "No no, nothing depressing. I just remembered next week is my birthday." he said happily. Just as with Ava's birthday the weeks had seemed to blend together without him even realizing it.

Akiko's eyes widened at the sudden revelation, "Seriously? How old are us gonna be?" she asked.

"I got five Yuans on 18." Xang started.

"Ten on 19." Lee added, digging into his pocket to get the cash. The others just gave them with disbelieving looks, the two friends put bets against each other on anything stupid. Long sometimes took part but mainly stayed out of it.

Akiko looked at Jason, looking over him with a analytical look in her eyes, casing Jason to smile at the face she was making. The girl but down on her lip, "I'm going to guess...seventeen?" she asked, reviving a nod from Jason. "Ha! Pay up losers!" she said, holding out her hand for the two boys to pay her.

"What is it with you and bets today?" the teen questioned as Akiko counted the bills.

She shrugged, "Women's intuition. I never go against it." she said with a shrug as the two jocks gave sorrowful looks at their lost cash. "So what do ha plan on doing? You finally caught up to me, seems like you should have something special in mind." she said teasingly.

Xang smiled, "Yea my dad took me to a Pro-Bending match with front row seats for my Seventeenth." he said as he recalled the memory.

"Mine was spent going to the opera." Kong said. Everyone's jaw nearly hit the table at that shocking revelation. The waterbender looked around at their faces and merely shrugged, "What? Something wrong with a teenager to like the fine arts of singing and acting on stage?" he asked.

They all shook their heads, "So...anyone else who won't make us think back on the time we spent with them?" Lee asked.

Akiko smirked, "My parents took me to a art museum. I actually got to meet some of the people who created the artworks too." she said as she thought back to the day she entered the large building.

Jadon thought for a minute. What would be nice is a day off from being Spider-Man...but as lovely as that sounds it's a bit too risky. The teen thought, "Maybe I'll spend the day with my Aunt and Uncle. It's the first birthday that o had with them." he said. Akiko cleared her throat, "And also a amazing, beautiful girlfriend." he added, putting a arm around Akiko.

She put a rice patty in her mouth and ate it with a small smile, "Thank you." she said after swallowing.

Jason was starting to regret the decision of coming to Air Temple Island. Meelo was on the back of his head, pulling at his hair as he tried to make the teen go towards the living room from the kitchen. Ikki was boxing backwards from the teen, asking him if it was true that Spider-Man was now a bad guy.

And Jinora was just giving the teen a sympathetic look. But the teen was smiling all the same. The teen grasped Meelo by his sides and peeled him off the back of his head, setting him down on the sofa, "No fair! I wanted a ride to the gates." he said with a pout as he crossed his arms.

"Can't you ride air?" the teen asked.

"Yeah. But you can't mush air." Meelo said with a poor defense.

Jason rolled his eyes, "I'll give you a ride to the gates later. Promise." he said with a smile, holding his fist out for a fist bump. Meelo hit it, sealing the promise and making Jason shake his hand, rubbing off the false pain he showed.

The teen made his way towards Pema and Tenzin's room with Ikki right on his heels, "So do you and Aki have dates?"

"Yep."

"Do you two go on epically romantic adventures?" she asked like it was a fairy tale.

Wouldn't call them romantic, "Sometimes, yes." he said, hiding the smirk that was tugging at his lips at the girl's innocence.

"Wooooow." she said in slight awe. "I hope I get a boyfriend one day." she said dreamily, making the teen stop dead in his tracks.

Jason saw the kids like siblings. So to say that dating was brought up at this wary age alarmed him was natural, "Only if he treats you nice, doesn't keep you out late, arrives on time, and gets your parents, and my, approval." he said to the girl.

Ikki stuck her tongue out at him, "You can't deny love!" she exclaimed with glee as she ran off. Jason rolled his eyes, Girls are weird. the teen thought as he walked towards the parents bedroom. The teen knocked before a muffled 'come in' was heard.

The teen entered the room and saw Pema folding clothes into the drawers of the room, "Hey Aunt Pem. Need help?" he asked as he walked beside the woman.

She smiled at the teen, "I always appreciate the help Jason." she said as Jason started to help her fold and put away the clothes. "Are you staying for dinner? We have a extra seat and some good food to eat." she offered.

Jason cast her a apologetic smile, "Thanks Aunt Pem but I need to meet a friend tonight." he said, sorry that he couldn't spend time with his family.

Pema shrugged, "It's ok. We don't see you much anymore but that's kind of a good thing." she said.

"Wow that's a little hurtful." Jason said with a smirk.

Pema rolled her eyes, "I mean I'm glad that your spending time with your friends. Me and your mother didn't have a lot of friends growing up, but it makes me happy that you have who you do now." she said with a sad smile.

Jason scratched the back of his head, "About mom...I found out who my dad is." he said, making Pema nearly knock the basket over if not for Jason's reflexes.

"What!? Really?" she asked. After all these years she finally had a clue to who her sister had Jason with. Jason himself was a shock to her, and this was just as surprising.

Jason told her everything her knew, which wasn't much, but Pema took all the information in nonetheless. "So he's a scientist?" she asked, surprised that her sister met someone like that. Ava wasn't a scholar, she was actually skeptical that Jason was her son with how smart he was.

"Yeah. I was pretty surprised myself." the teen admitted to the woman. "I kinda thought...well I didn't know what to think really. I just knew that it was only my mom and me." he said, thinking back to all the good times with his mother.

Pema gave the teen a sorrowful look, she and her family where the only real thing that Jason has had to having one after Ava died. The woman reached down her collar and retrieved a necklace.

It was simple with a black string that knotted in the back, in the front of the necklace was a small blue stone, about the size of a fingernail. Encased around it was red metal in the shape of what looked like a spider.

"Your mother gave this to me the night before she left the house. She said it was her good luck charm that our grandfather gave her. I carried it around with me ever since she left, hoping that I could return it one day." she explained to the teen with tears brining in her brown eyes.

She wiped the water from her eyes and smiled, "I want you to have it Jason. Your mother would want you to." she said, gently grasping the teen's hand and putting the necklace in his plan before closing his fingers around it.

Jason was truly touched from Pema's gift to him, every trace of Ava's belongings was destroyed in the fire that swallowed their apartment. He brought his hand to his chest and smiled, "Aunt Pem. Thank you so much." he said before engulfing the woman in a hug.

Pema returned it with tears leaking down her face. Jason pulled away and smiled, "Hey I know this is big but you don't need to cry Aunt Pem. If it means that much you can-" he started, beginning to hand the necklace back to her.

The woman shook her head, drying her face with her sleeve, "No, no. It's not that...Jason...we where going to wait on telling people but..." she started nervously. Jason gave her a curious look as she took a deep breath, "Your going to have another cousin running around." she said happily.

Jason's fave morphed from surprise, to shock, to happiness, and back to shock before shifting to disgust, "Eeeewww! Ew ew ew ew ew!" he said with a look of horror at the thought of his aunt-STOP IT! DONT EVEN THINK OF THOSE WORDS!

Pema laughed at the teen's expression, "Jason it's completely natural for people who love each other." she said giggling as Jason's fave got worse.

"Good god woman don't stop making me think of it! It's gross!" he said as he held his face in his hands.

"Jason you know that you and Aki may one day-" she started.

Jason covered his ears, "Please just stop! I don't need to hear this! Not now! Give me a little while to be innocent!" he pleaded with the woman. Although technically I'm not innocent dice mom died but don't need, or want, to hear this.

Pema laughed until she had to sit down just because she couldn't stand anymore.

Spider-Man landed on the wall of a building and crawled up the side if it. It was the same one that he and Daredevil where on last night when they went they're separate ways. The teen climbed over the ledge and found the man crouching in the edge of it. "Why do you smell like children?"

The teen smirked under his mask, "My cousins. So what do children smell like? I'd imagine it's a combination of dirt, sugar, glue, and candy." he guessed as he walked over beside the red suited man.

"That...is actually a accurate description." he said with a small smile.

"So what's the plan? Wait for him to show up?" the teen asked. He wasn't used to being bait, and he didn't want to get used to the idea anytime soon.

"Basically. This was the last place we where seen together, Bullseye will be looking for us here." he explained, making the teen look at him strangely.

"Bullseye? As in hitting the middle of a dartboard?" he asked.

"Yep. That's who he's probably sending. He has impeccable accuracy and has only missed with me." he explained.

"Ok what's he look like?" the teen asked without thinking. Daredevil turned to the teen with a look, "Oh...I'm sorry I didn't think and-"

"No problem. In fact I like it when they don't know." he said with a shrug. The blind man smirked, "Imagine how much a blow their ego would take if they found out they got their asses kicked by a blind man."

Jason couldn't help but snicker, "Or a teenager. God I can't imagine how the supervillans would be like." the teen said, thinking of how dumb they'd look. The two snickered at the idea before settling into a silence for a few minutes. "So why are you after the Kingpin anyway? I know that he's a bad guy but directly going after him like this..."

Yuji thought for a minute, should he really tell this kid why he's doing this? But then again they both know each other's secret identities, not much reason not to trust each other. "My father used to fight in Pro Bending. He was the waterbender on his team, but he wanted me to get a better job than that. Be a lawyer, make a life for myself." he started.

The teen listened intently, "I didn't know that my dad's team matches where all fixed. By the Kingpin." he said, making Spider-Man connect the dots quickly. "I was at the fight when he was told to throw it, he didn't give up though, he won the match when it came down three to one." he said proudly with a smile.

His face stopped at the next memory, "That same night they found him dead, his neck broken in the team room." he said sadly. "I don't know how he did it, there where no fingerprints, no marks, nothing. But I know that Tarrlock was behind it." he said solemnly.

Spider-Man let that sink in for a moment, he was doing the same thing, trying to find the man's whose responsible for his mother's death. But the difference is that Jason still doesn't know where he is.

"My mother was by a Triple Threat member, he wanted to fake his death so he lit his apartment in fire with a dead body inside. My mom's apartment was next door." he said sadly, his hand grazing over the necklace that Pema gave him tucked under his suit.

"And that morning I saw one of his friends carting in a gas can. I could have definitely had done something to stop him from doing it. And when I found the man who set it, I let him live...but the one behind all of it is still out there. I'll find him one day, I swore that the day my mom died. " he said, determination in his voice.

Yuji couldn't help but draw the similarities between them, the death of a family pushing both of them to fight crime so that the city could be safe. Kindred spirits as dad would say. the man thought. "For what it's worth, I think your mom would be proud of ya."

The teen smiled, "Thanks, I'm sure-" He stopped when his Spider-Sense rang like a bell. The two each leapt off the building as two knives slashed through the air where the two's heads were. "Hey we where having a bromance moment! The most sacred bond that two costumed men can share!" Spider-Man shouted.

The teen shot a webline to a water tower and swung around the a building, he didn't expect his web to be sliced in midair. The teen smashed his back into the wall of the building, "Ow. Just ow." the teen said as he rubbed his back before leaping up to the rooftop, "Oh. My. God."

In front of the teen was a buff man with a skintight suit, a Masl covered all his fave but for his eyes and mouth. A white Bullseye on his forehead and chest, a white strip going over his neck and shoulders anlong with white gloves and boots. The teen let out a snort, "So...what's your costume made of?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

The man drew knives from his back and sliced at the teen's head, "You better have made your peace with your God!" he yelled as Spider-Man backflipped out of his reach.

You have better made price with your tailor because that thing that your wearing is killing your fashion sense." Spider-Man joked as Bullseye threw one of the knives at the teen. He moved to the side at the last moment so that it barely missed him.

The man turned to swipe away Daredevil's club attached to a string, "Hey horn head. Miss me?" he asked as the blind man reeled his club back to him.

Spider-Man took this moment to go on the offensive, he pounced off the water tower to the marksman, throwing his fist out in time for Bullseye to roll out of his way. The teen rolled into a standing position as Daredevil took his place on the attack.

"You two know each other? How could you! I thought we had something special!" the teen said dramatically as Daredevil clashed weapons with Bullseye. The teen leapt over the red suited hero's head and planted his foot firmly in Bullseye's face, knocking him back as Spider-Man flipped backwards.

Daredevil threw his clubs, the bounced off the sides of radio antenna and metal before each one met the sides of the man's face. Daredevil rushed forward and drop kicked him into the side of the water tower.

Before he could move, Spider-Man sprayed his limbs with webbing before cold clocking him, knocking him out cold. "And your outfit is atrocious." the young hero said as the man slumped with a groan.

The teen looked over to Daredevil, "So much for questioning him." the teen said sheepishly, admitting that he may had gotten a little carried away.

The man shrugged, "Don't be. I'll make him spill when he wakes up." he said as Jason tore the webbing off him and handed him to the man. The blind man walked towards the edge before turning to the teen, "Go home, it's a school night after all." he said with a smirk on his face before firing his grappling hook to a building and swinging away.

Spider-Man stood on the rooftop until he was out of sight, "Oh crap I got homework! Damnit!" The teen swore as he remembered his assignment that was due tomorrow in history class. He quickly swung away from the building, deciding to finish his work now rather than wait until later.

Captain Wei sat at his desk as he sipped on his coffee, yesterday was e eventful to say the least. The department had gotten a witness saying that Councilman Tarrlock of all people was the Kingpin of crime. Given the reliability of this 'Bullseye' was actually pretty good, Wei was sent to take the Councilman in for questioning.

And he had to admit it was funny to see the look on the man's face.

But there was a snare.

"Tarrlock made bail!" The man turned to see the red and black costumed teen holding a newspaper in his hand. He tossed it into the man's desk, on the front page was Tarrock with a cheesy smile as he descended the courthouse steps.

Wei sighed, he too was mad that Tarrlock payed his way out of this, and with his team of lawyers he'd be able to beat any charge thrown at him. "It's not all that bad-"

"Save for the fact that o have Task Force minions on my but!" Spider-Man angrily pointed out. He did all this to try and bring the Kingpin to justice, and he was just slipping through the raindrops. Again.

Wei folded his hands together, "Well now that he's under suspicion of crimes. The other council members have overturned all of his recent propositions. Including the task force that was assigned to you." he said with a smirk, noticing the young hero's demeanor relax.

Well thank god. Jason thought to himself. He could finally go back to not worrying about the Police trying to take him in...well they do but the Task Force guys where made to take him in. The teen realized he practically blew up on Wei for no reason whatsoever, "Um...sorry for...yeah." the teen said awkwardly.

Wei waved it off, "Don't you have a purse snatcher to web or something? Go on and get outta here." the man said as he started to get back to his paperwork.

Spider-Man took that as his que to leave. The teen fell back down towards the streets, shooting a webline to the side of the police station and swinging high into the air before letting go and letting out a whoop of excitement.

Electro sat on the bed in his maximum security cell. The door was insulated with air holes in the center of it, allowing him air to breathe. The Vault was getting a whole remodel so that it could be unable to be broken into from the outside. They where holding the electric powered man in a medium sized prison on the outskirts of Republic City.

And it was all thanks to Spider-Man.

Electro had posted a picture of the wall crawler on his wall, which he used for target practice every day. "Electro. Dinner." the guard said. He turned to the door as the guard slid the food tray through a opening in the floor.

As Electro kneeled down to get the food, the door sounded like it was hit with something, making Electro back away from the door, "Hey what the hell!?" he exclaimed.

A second later the edges of the door started to crumble and fold until the cell door gave and crumbled. On the other side stood Rhino, "Electro right?" the man nodded, "Come on, early release." he said as he led the man out of his cell.

All the guards where unconscious, each of them having a dart in their necks, Rhino stomped down the hall with Electro right behind him as he walked through the broken door. "Ah, Mr. Electro. Nice to finally meet you."

Rhino moved aside to show the occupants of the cell block, one man had four metal arms, another had a brown pair of paints on with stripped green shirt, a man in leopard print best had a blowpipe in his hand, and the last was a old man with green wings.

"My name is Otto Octavius. But you may know me as Doctor Octopus." the man with metal arms said. He gestured to the man with a green stripped shirt with sand at his feet, "This is the Sandman," he pointed to Kraven with ha tentacle, "Kraven the Hunter," another metal arm pointed to the old man, "The Vulture," and loomed to the large man with a horn, "And you've already met Rhino."

"Allow me to extent a offer to you Electro." Doc Ock said as he approached the man, his tentacles ready at his sides in case he tried something. "We all have a certain spider powered pest in our lives that has been nothing but trouble." he started, getting nods from the rest of the group.

"So I decided that we should have a meeting." he started, "I put forward the suggestion that us, Spider-Man's most deadly foes, should combine our forces together to squash the spider." he said, making all the men in the room smile at the idea.

"So. What do you say? Join us?" the scientist asked as he held his hand out for Electro.

The man's face turned into a smile, "You don't need to ask." he said with a smile." he said as he grasped the man's hand and shook it.

Otto smiled, "Perfect. Now, I suggest that we dawn a title, one that the world will know not to oppose us by." he said. The group muttered in agreement, giving the doctor permission to name the group as their leader.

Otto smiled wickedly, "From henceforth, we shall all be known as The Sinister Six!"

**AN: Thank. God. I. Finished.**

**You all asked and so you received. Daredevil, the man with no fear!**

**I know that the Bullseye fight was short and I apologize for that but he was up against TWO superheroes.**

**I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long to post this, I've been busy with schoolwork the past few weeks and I'm working on getting my driver's license, I'd much rather web swing though :)**

**And yes, the Sinister Six is in the next chapter. So don't expect it to go up anytime soon because I want to make it good.**

**And I've been watching some old Ultimate Spider-Man gameplay and that's what I've been basing the combat on this time around.**

**Thank you all for being patient with me on making this chapter. I hope I did Daredevil Justice and you all like the character story. And thanks for reading, until next time.**

**For now, I'm gonna watch some Red vs. Blue, bye!**


	25. Chapter 25

Sinister Six

The young hero looked down into the Petri dish through a microscope. "Cellular regeneration process is starting." the teen said to Dr. Chapal, he stood by with a clipboard on the table writing in the times while a clock counted the seconds.

"How fast is the cell growth?" the scientist asked.

Jason counted off until he saw the nucleus of a cell begin to split away from another, "Five point three seconds I think. At this rate the sample should grow back to its full state after..." Jason tired to think of a number but was too busy just staring down into the cell.

With this, they could change the world for the better.

Chapal thought for a moment, "I'd say about sixteen hours. It would quadruple that on a fully grown human." the scientist said with a hopeful smile. "It's better than taking years for it to happen." he added.

Jason smiled, "Well that, and imagine just how gross it would look. This is partial dragon DNA, I'd would not like to have a scaly toe." the teen lightly joked as Chapal recorded the time.

"It could be made of slime for all I care, it would only be temporary anyway. The skin would shed after a prolonged period of time always." he explained.

Jason put a lid over the Petri dish, "Like lizards shedding skin. Why didn't we use lizard DNA again and instead Dragon?" The teen asked as he put the dish carefully into it's container, "I mean there's only a handful of them left, last thing we want is another near extinction." the teen pointed out.

Chapal finished writing times on the board before looking at the teen, "I thought the same. And we could actually do the same with lizards, but we would need tremendous DNA samples from almost every type of reptile todo so. And it would take decades to catalog all them." he explained as the teen removed his lab coat.

"And since dragons are the purest form of lizards, it's much better to take a sample form them." the doctor said as the two walked over to their lockers and put the coats away.

"So...do you Uh...need me for anything else?" the teen asked hesitantly.

Chapal smiled, "Jason. I may be old but I'm not a fool. It's the weekend, if you have someone to meet then just ask to leave early." the man said as he patted the teen's shoulder with one hand.

The young hero let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks doc. My girlfriend and I are heading out and I'll get this look if I'm late again." the teen explained, making Chapal laugh.

"Your father used to tell me the same thing. At first I didn't believe it...but then I saw the look she gave him." he said, letting out a small shutter along with the teen. His mother could look scary when she wanted to.

"Have fun Jason. I'll see you tomorrow." the doctor called out as Jason headed towards the exit. The teen waved him goodbye as he exited the room, wanting to make sure he got to his girlfriend before he got 'the look'.

Chapal waited until he was absolutely sure the teen was gone before heading back to his locker and taking it this coat. He hurried over to the container that Jason put away in the bio container and took out the Petri dish.

The sample was still regenerating at the expected rate, which is just what Chapal was expecting. The scientist walked to his lab table, on the table where his instruments and beakers, one of them filled with the formula that was responsible for the rapid cell growth.

Chapal took a syringe full of the substance and headed to the animal testing area.

…

Jason looked up to the sky with a content smile, Akiko suggested that the two of them go to the park for a picnic. After eating the two decided to just enjoy the peaceful day. Akiko laid her head against Jason's firm chest, using it as a pillow as the sun's rays warming two two like a blanket.

Akiko smirked as she played with the necklace Jason wore between her fingers. She laid against the teen's side with one of his arms around her waist with the other resting against the back of his head, "This is kinda weird." she said, her voice showing happiness of all things.

Jason lifted his head slightly to look at her, "What is? That we're enjoying a nice little date at the park?" he asked.

Akiko rubbed the blue stone lightly with her thumb, "Well that, and the fact that it's been pretty normal for you lately." she explained. "I mean usually we wouldn't be doing this because you have some supervillan to stop or something."

Jason nodded in agreement, for the past week since meeting Daredevil there had been no big things going on. Just he usual petty crimes that he easily stopped, and ever since he got the task force off his back, he's been going non-stop lately.

"You almost sound like your complaining." he commented, tightening his grip on her waist ever so slightly.

Akiko let out a small giggle, "No, I'm not. In saying that I love this new change of pace." she said as she let the young hero's necklace fall to his chest. She inched her hands up to the sides of his face, "Gives me more time with my hero." she said as she pulled herself up so that her face was over his.

"We need to think of a new nickname for me." the teen commented.

"What's wrong with 'hero'? It fits you." she said with a small pout.

"Well I get called hero everyday. I call you Aki because barely anyone call you it, that and babe because...well you are pretty hot." he said, making both their faces flush red.

"I'm hot now am I?" she asked with a predatory smirk as she leaned down towards the teen's face.

"Well your a Firebender so technically-" he started before Akiko sealed his lips with hers.

This is the only way to shut Spider-Man up. Thank god the bad guys don't know that, although that'd be fricking hilarious. Akiko thought as Jason lightly pulled at her lips. She slowly pulled her lips away from the teen's, "Down boy." she mumbled against his flesh, Jason reluctantly pulled away from the girl, a playful smile on her face.

"Come on we've made out before." he pointed out.

"Yeah but we weren't in public." she counted, gesturing to the open space of the park. People on the path that went through the park paid the young couple no mind, but that didn't mean that would last forever.

"Ok yea good point. Want me to carry you up to a rooftop?" he asked, earning himself a light snack in the chest. Jason rolled his eyes before closing his arms around her and rolled her over, making her let out a small squeal.

"Jason I swear to god-" she started as the two's noses touched, "-I fricking hate you." she stated with a smile playing on her face.

"I love you to." he said before pressing his lips to her nose. No supervillans, no gang wars, I can definitely get used to this. the teen thought as he laid his head beside Akiko's.

…

Doc Ock sat at a small table in his old abandoned lab. It was offsite from Future Industries' main factory. His work in the new and dangerous field of nuclear radiation, which of course was the reason he got where he is today.

The rest of Sinister Six where readying themselves for their upcoming encounter with Spider-Man. Otto knew that they where all ready, but he did have a plan in place for the Sandman.

"Hey Doc." the ex-scientist turned to the door to see the man in question, light brown trench coat and all. "I'm ready. We doing this or what?" the man asked as Otto turned and got up, using one of his extra arms to push in the chair behind him.

"I feel that I should warn you again Marko that this is very dangerous. You may not survive." the doctor warned as the two made their way down to the lab. Despite being de-commissioned, the lab still had nuclear energy stored up, though not much.

Marco shrugged, "Look if this thing does what you say it does than it's worth it. Besides, if it doesn't work then I'm sure you'll find a way to put me all back together." the man explained his reasoning.

Otto hadn't told him that there was a good chance he may not survive. "Yes there is always that. Now come along, the sooner this gets done, the better." and he wasn't planing on telling him anytime soon.

The two entered the lab, in the room was a number of control panels witch operated the machine. "Go into the room on the other side of the glass if you would." he said as he approached the control panels, his tentacles outstretching to reach the leavers and switches to start up the machine.

Sandman only nodded as he fallowed the signs that read 'test site'. MArko entered the room, on the ground was hundreds of pounds of sand. "Hope I don't get big as a blimp after this." he said to himself as he let his coat join the sand as he walked towards the center of the room.

Around the center of the room was two metal rods that connected to the ceiling, sticking into the sand. Marko stood between them as Doc Ock's voice came on speaker, 'Commencing in 5-4-3-2-1. Start." Otto said as his arms pulled the leavers on either sides of the room down.

The metal rods on either side of Marko started to hum. He felt the hairs on ha head and arms start to stand up, the metal rods where no longer stationary and where bringing to move in a circular motion around Marko. The man bent the sand so that it covered him head to toe, not leaving a hint of skin on his form.

The rods began to pick up speed, the radiation coming off them pouring into Marko, he felt...something change. He couldn't describe it, like his skin was getting chapped and cracked all over. But the pain started to intensify, he tired to bite back a cry but it escaped his lips and screamed as the sand began to melt.

First was the arms, then the legs, then the body. Until nothing but a pile of sand remained.

When the machine started to power down, Otto lifted the bast shields that covered the windows. He waited. And waited. And waited.

Then the sand shifted until a mass started to form in the center of it. First came the body, then the legs, the arms, the hands, and finally the head. Bits of sand started falling away, showing the man's features as color returned to his green and black striped shirt and beige pants.

"Now your a real Sandman Marko." Otto muttered with a sinister smile.

…

"So your big day is on Monday. Have any plans?" Akiko asked her boyfriend as they walked with their arms around each other. The two where on their way to Akiko's home, Jason insisted on dropping her off at her door. Mom would kill me if I didn't offer, and I mean like crawl out of the grave and strangle me if I didn't. The teen thought with a small shutter.

"I was just thinking doing the same that we did today." he explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

Akiko gave her boyfriend a strange look, "Oh come on. Not even a little party?" she asked. "It's like your trying to make your life sad. And it's working, more than you want it to." she said, poking him in the chest with a accusing look.

Jason smiled, "No my life is crazy. Not sad. Besides I didn't tell Aunt Pema and them either, they have enough to worry about with her being with child...ew." he added the last part with a disgusted face.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "God you act like sex is a disease." she said. Her cheeks started to burn, "You know...at one point...when we're both ready...we might...yeah." she said awkwardly as Jason's fave got brighter and brighter, matching hers.

"We...could talk about it. At one point." he offered.

"We should talk about it...even if it's like super weird." Akiko said in agreement

"No it'd be super fricking awkward is what it would be. Well, may be...at one point." he explained. This must be the first time in my life I wish that Jason had to go save the day to get away from me. Akiko thought as her cheeks got even more brighter.

The sound of sirens never brought more relief to the both of them, "Well that's your cue. Love you." she said with the tiniest bit of relief in her voice as she pressed her lips to his cheek.

"You too." Jason said as he headed towards a nearby alleyway. The teen looked to make sure no one fallowed him before jumping to the side of the building and crawling up the side of it. When he reached the rooftop he changed into his Spider-Man costume and left his clothes in a ball of webbing.

The teen shot a webline to the side of a building and pulled back on it with both hands before shooting into the air. The teen let his arms fail back before firing another line to the wall of a building and falling and swinging on the web. The teen swung past the building before letting go of the web and heading towards the sounds of the sirens.

As much as I'm grateful from getting away from that awkward conversation, I can't help but get a bad feeling. The teen thought as he swung down between car lanes and flying into the air.

I mean the last big threat I really faced was Carrion and that was over two weeks ago or something. I just got this real bad feeling, like my luck is gonna come back in force. Jason thought as bounced off a lamppost before attacking a web to a nearby building and swinging around it.

The young hero swung on the line down the street for a few feet before letting go and landing on a streetlamp and perching himself. "Ok...forget what I was thinking." The teen said aloud as he observed the sight before him.

Down the street was a man in what looked like silver armor, his face covered by a silver mask that clung tightly to his face. But he was ten stories above ground.

How? Stilts.

Very. Very. Very long stilts.

Don't laugh, this guy could actually be pretty dangerous. Just resist the urge. Jason thought as the man turned down the street. "HEAR ME CITIZENS!" he yelled down. Oh thank you God. "I AM THE PLUGE OF THIS CITY, I AM WHAT YOU SHIULD FEAR! I AM STILT MAN!" he yelled proudly.

By now many of the people on the street below had taken notice and where looking up at the man. Jason couldn't hold it in anymore, "BWA HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! YOUR SERIOUSLY CALLING YOURSELF STILT MAN! AHHAHAHAHAGAAAAHHH!" Jason howled in laughter as he clutched his gut.

Slit man lowered his legs above the street lamps. "You dare mock me Spider-Man! I who-"

"OH NO, PLEASE IM GONNA...GONNA... I'M GONNA SNEEZE WEBBS! HAHAGA!" Spider-Man said before falling off the streetlamp and to the street where civilians where watching the exchange, surprised by the display that they where seeing.

Spider-Man was literally rolling on the ground laughing. Stilt man waved his blowtorch in his hand menacingly, "You shall feel my wrath soon Spider-Man!" he said as he started to walk away.

Jason wiped the tears out of his eyes as someone came up to him, "Uhhh...Spidy. Are you gonna stop him or what?" he asked as the teen got up from the ground.

The teen cleared his throat, "Yes. And I shall do it using one of the most ancient of super hero moves." he said as he got into a fake fighting stance. The teen drew his arm back, "Hiiiiiiiiii-" he shot out his hand and shot a thick webline right on the man's leg, "Trip." he finished as he pulled on the web and made the man fall.

The teen and man winced as the man's head came down ontop of a food cart.

The two stood silent for a moment before the man spoke up, "You where completely joking weren't you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yep. Gotta run, see ya dude." he said as jumped into the air and shot a webline to a building and swinging away from the 'villain' that was laying in food.

…

"Now that we're all here. Shall we begin?" Doc Ock asked as the members of the Sinister Six all gathered around a table. Everyone, save for Rhino, was sitting around the table, with Doc Ock's metal arms each holding something. "Now, the first thing that we should do is find the pest. Kraven?"

One of the arms laid a map of Republic City, facing the hunter, "I've studied our prey from a distance. He is mostly seen around Dragon's Borough district, the financial district, and the docks of the city." he explained, pointing to the places on the map.

"I suggest that we make the fight on our terms, we make the battle ours, and he will fall quickly. That is when we strike." he said decisively.

Otto nodded, "That seems like the best strategic plan we have. Sandman will hit him first, take him off guard with his new abilities so that we can catch him off guard as well."

The other five nodded in agreement, "So. Here's what we shall do." Otto said as the others leaned in to listen to the ex-scientist's plan.

…

Jason was still snorting to himself as he typed up his encounter with Stilt Man. Man I just get all the weird ones don't I? Wonder if Daredevil has to deal with these types of crazies? The teen wondered as he took the paper from his type writer.

"You've been giggling to yourself about that Stilt guy for about a hour. Seriously kid

get a grip, it's not that funny." Whitney said across from Jason pointedly.

Jason smiled, "Whitney you should have been there. This guy was just plain sad, I mean anyone could beat this guy if they lust held out their leg in front of him." he explained, trying to get the man's ridiculousness across.

Whitney rolled her eyes but smirked nonetheless, "Your too easily amused. You know that?" she asked.

"I've been told." the teen said.

After turning in the paper to Stan, who got a good laugh out of it, Jason returned to his desk and gathered his things along with Whitney, "So a little birdie told me that your birthday is Monday. What's with all the secrets? Trying to kick me out of your life?" Whitney teasingly asked as they passed a mail boy.

Jason shook his head, "No it's not that. It's just...me and my mom used to do some nice stuff on my birthday. But...yeah." he trailed off.

Whitney looked at the teen with a sad expression, "Oh...I'm sorry." she apologized. Jason eventually told her that his mother passed and that was the reason for him getting his job in the first place. "You know I could probably take you somewhere. If you want." she offered, trying to cheer the teen up.

Jason gave her a sad smile as they entered the elevator, "Nah. I think I'm gonna spend the day with Akiko." he said, making Whitney give him a sly smile.

"You little hound dog. I knew you had it in ya!" she said encouragingly, patting the teen on the back.

Jason's eyes widened, "No! No no no no. We haven't done that." he said firmly, his cheeks burning with pink.

Whitney rolled her eyes at the teen's flustered response, "You must be the only teenager I know who is such a prude about it." she said as the elevator doors opened.

"How many teenagers do you know?" the teen questioned. Whitney stays silent as they walked to the entrance of the Marvel. "That's what I thought." Jason said smugly.

"Shut up." Whitney shot back.

Jason was about to reply when his Spider-Sense started up like a car engine. The two exited the building, "Whitney I-GAHHH!" he let out a yelp as something wrapped around his leg along with Whitney and hoisted them into the air. The two where brought face to face with Doc Ock.

Two of his metal arms where suspending the two in midair while two others held him in place on the side of the building. "Sorry to disturb you two. But I was wondering if you two could tell me something." he started as Whitney tried to wiggle free.

"Ok it's true, there are no gators in the sewers." Jason answered cheekily. In fact he was scared out of his mind. Does he know? Does he know I'm Spider-Man? No. There's no way-

"I am searching for Jason O-rou. The one who writes about Spider-Man." he explained. Damnit. I just had to think it, me and my stupid, stupid mouth. Jason inwardly cursed himself.

Whitney looked over to the teen, "Uhhh..." for once in her life she didn't know what in the world to say.

Otto righted his grip on their legs, "I will not ask again." he said as the two's faces reflected in his pitch black goggles.

Jason sighed, "It's me. I write all the Spider-Man stuff." he said, making Ock bring the teen closer.

Otto looked at the teen strangely, "I expected someone..."

"With more hair on their body? Yeah I get that a lot." the teen admitted. Sorry to say that was actually true.

"Hair aside, you must meet Spider-Man no?" he asked, the teen nodded, "Are you meeting him tonight?" the man questioned.

Jason gulped, "Y-yea. I am." he lied. Making Whitney shoot him a look.

"Have Spider-Man meet me at 5:00 pm tomorrow, in the middle of the city." he said before letting the teen down but leaving Whitney with him as she tried to get out of his grip, "Or she dies." he said coldly as he moved her from one arm to another and pounced off the building with his arms and carried her with him.

"Let me go! Put me down you...you..." she started as they started getting higher and higher. "On second thought never mind." she said in a small voice as she clung to the metal for dear life.

Jason could only watch as Whitney disappeared around the corner of a building. If I went after him as Spider-Man he could put two and two together quick enough. And he may hurt Whitney if I tried to go after him now. Jason thought, "I'm trapped right now. And so is Whitney."

…

"It's a trap. It has got to be a trap." Akiko said after Jason told her about what happened hours before. Jason was on the wall in her room with his head in his hand, Akiko's parents and brother where out of town for the weekend and had left Akiko in charge of house sitting.

The teen nodded, "Obviously. All I'm missing is a ghost town and we have ourselves a little old stare down and viola, showdown." he said jokingly.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean. Look, can't you call Daredevil or someone to help out? Tomorrow is your birthday after all." she pointed out as Jason dropped to the floor.

"I don't get vacation days you know." he pointed out. Akiko crossed her arms over her chest as she laid backdown onto the bed, "Look something's up with you. You've been all...protective lately. And it's starting to worry me, is everything all right?" the teen asked as he sat down next to her.

Akiko looked at him critically, "Your asking me that when you have to go fight a supervillan tomorrow!?" she asked heatedly.

"Yep." was Jason's simple response. He reached out a hand to hers and grasped it, "You are much more important to me than some stupid bad guy." he said truthfully.

Akiko let out a long sigh, "I worry about you. Everyday at one point I just think, 'Is this the day? Is this going to be the day he dies?' And I hate thinking about it." she confessed as she put a hand over her eyes. "I know you can handle the small guys. But it's with the big ones that I worry."

Jason took that in. If he and Aki where in opposite shoes would he be scared of her never coming back? Never seeing her smile again? The answer was really simple, hell yes he would be scared. The teen raised his hand over her hers and lightly gripped it and pulled it away from her eyes.

Her blue orbs looked into his, "How about this, I promise, that whenever I face a bad guy, I'll check in with you? I'll call, or better yet come by on the day it happens." he suggested.

Akiko thought for a moment, it was a good start. But not exactly full proof, But then again what is full proof? the girl thought. "Ok...but you get to me as soon as you can. Alright?" she said, setting he ground rules with a firm stare.

Jason smiled, "Sure. Whatever you say babe." he said as he laid down beside her. "Would you like something else? World peace? A wild Sky Bison? Anything for my love." the teen said jokingly with a smile.

Akiko thought for a moment, "What about a puppy?" she asked.

"No." the teen stated firmly.

"What happened to 'Anything'?" she asked.

"It went right out the window and took a bus when something with something less than six legs came up." the teen explained.

Akiko smiled as she smacked the teen's chest. "So basically insets and bugs. Ewww." she said at the thought of a collection of bugs and such.

"And spiders. Don't forget spiders." Jason added in, making the girl shutter. "Hey! That's my extended family I might add." the teen said, making the girl let out a groan of disgust.

Akiko gained a worried look, "I hope Whitney is ok." she said sadly.

Jason laughed, "If anything I hope Otto has the patience of a saint. She's probably talking his ear off right now."

(Meanwhile)

"So you underwent a experiment, by a former scientist without completely knowing what might happen?" Whitney asked as Marko sat on guard duty on the other side of the clear door.

Whitney was temporarily being kept in a testing room with a fully operating bath room and bed. Sandman nodded tiredly, "For the hundredth fricking time lady. YES! Now could you just fall asleep or something! I need to rest too."

(Back at Akiko's house)

Aki shrugged, "Yeah I'm sure she's fine. I don't think Doc Ock is that evil." she said, looking up at the ceiling. "Imagine if he was a hero. Wouldn't that be something?" she asked with a smile.

Jason shot her one back, "Yeah it would be. Evil aside, he is a brilliant man, he could do amazing things to the world." Jason said as he thought back to all the articles he had read about the ex-scientist.

Akiko sighed, "Can we just stop thinking of crazy stuff for like five minutes? It makes me a little depressed." she said.

"Hey in essence I am crazy, therefore don't I make you depressed?" the teen asked cheekily as he tuned his head to face hers.

"Shut up." she stated before fully turning her body and using his as a pillow.

Jason laid without a word, he'd leave once she was asleep.

He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow.

…

Spider-Man shot a webline to wall of a building, swing down the street before letting go and shooting another line with his other hand. The teen swung towards the front of a building, his web and momentum taking him up the side of the building before letting go.

The teen went through the air, approaching the ledge, he quickly rebounded off the ledge of the building and jumping over the roof to the middle of the city.

The people of Republic City called it the Four Corners Square because people of all four nations had a part of the plaza to themselves. The Air Nation side had a small temple, a vegetarian restaurant, and many other small shops run by air acolytes.

The other comers showed off the best of their nations. Fire was forging, such and building materials, water was good, and earth was a mini market place.

In the center stood a tall clock tower with one of each nation's seals on the twelve, three, six, and nine. "Well if I was a evil mastermind, that is where I would have my nemesis meet me." The teen said aloud as he attached a webline to the side of it and pulled himself to it.

Spider-Man crawled the wall of the tower towards the top, "This so obviously a trap that it would be a insult not to point this out. But this is too obvious for Ock. What's his real plan here?" the teen asked himself as he neared the tiled rooftop. The teen veered to his left to the clock face. There was a broken out section of the glass that he could fit through.

Entering the tower, he saw the reporter tied to a chair with a thing of cloth covering her mouth, the teen landed next to her, "Don't be scared, I'm gonna get you out of here." Jason said as he untied the knots holding her together.

The woman quickly grappled the cloth and tore it off her face, "Spidy it's a trap!" she exclaimed.

The teen merely shrugged, "Well yeah, duh. That's kinda obvi-" he stopped when his Spider-Sense flared up to his side. The teen tuned just in time to see a giant Fost of sand hit him square in the face and knock him into the metal supports of the clock.

The teen let outa groan as he got out of the wreckage, "Ow, just ow." the teen muttered as Whitney made a run for the door and Sandman emerged from his bonding place. "Hey what are you doing here sandy? Me and Docky where supposed to dance."

Marko only smirked, "Well let's see you walk after the hurt we put on you!" he exclaimed as his body turned to sand and headed for the young hero in a charge. Spider-Man managed to knock himself out of the shock in time to flip back into the air and onto the metal as Sandman crashed, making the entire fixture shake

"Marko, what-what happened to you! Your-" the teen started as the man's torso emerged from the sand with one hand a mace and swung it at the teen.

Spider-Man leapt off the wall as the mace crashed down. Six arms emerged from Sandman's back, reaching out for the teen. The young hero shot a webline to the ceiling and swung around the arms, kicking the arms and, making the hands fall to the ground.

"I gotta say, your pretty handy around the clock tower. Ever think of getting a hunchback?" Spider-Man asked as he flew towards the man and slammed his feet into his back. "You could so work the look." Sandman's body shifted so that his back was now his front, before the teen could escape, Marko encased his legs with sand.

A hand emerged from his chest and slammed the teen out the window, "Well at least I didn't get cut by the glass." the teen said to himself as he shot a webline to the side of the tower.

A green wing slashed through the web, "Miss me little bug?" Vulture asked as he flew towards the young hero and threw his razor sharp feathers at him.

Jason twisted his body so that he dived the feathers, First a superpowered Sandman and now the Vulture? I miss Stilt Man. the teen thought as he tried to attach a web to the side of the building but was sliced by Vulture again. "Oh don't worry beak breath I didn't forget about you."

Spider-Man fired another webline, this time to the old man's foot, riding on the line behind him as he dipped down into the streets below. The line was cut again, this time by a throwing star, the teen fell to the ground and rolled into a crouch.

"Oh let me guess, my favorite crazy hunter Kraven." he guessed as he turned to the man in question as he brandished his shirt swords. "Great, so where's the rest of your little club? Off getting coffee for the rest of you guys?" She asked as Vulture landed on a lamppost beside Kraven.

At the same time, Sandman come down from the clock tower in a cascade of Sand before forming his body once more. Spider-Man's Spider Sense rang out in his skull, he leapt out of the way as a blast of electricity charred the ground.

Spider-Man looked back to see Electro with a smug look on his face, "Four of you-" the teen turned as his sixth sense rang out.

The satomobile with a couple inside should have been hard to miss.

The teen let go of the line and put his hands into the hood of the car before pushing off, making a bet of webbing between two lampposts to cushion the fall. The two exited the car as Spider-Man landed in front of Rhino.

Before the teen could comment Rhino slammed his fist down, making the teen flip back onto his hands as the fist came down, the teen pounced off the ground and onto his fist and ran up his shoulder, spring him in the face with webbing as he did.

The teen leapt off his back only to be sideswiped by a metal arm, mocking him into a bus stop. The teen let out a groan as he sat up from the remains of the bus stop, "Ok...is the class present? I'm ready to take attendance."

Otto lowered himself to the ground as the other supervillain came up behind him, "Spider-Man, allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the Sinister Six, and today is the day you die." Otto said with a triumphant smile.

Rhino cracked his knuckles, "Any last words wall crawler?" he asked menacingly.

Spider-Man gulped, "Can we all just hug and be friends? I like that idea, and I am willing to give hugs." the teen said stupidly.

Rhino charged as Vulture flew into the air and launched razor feathers at the teen. Spider-Man leapt over the horn of the large bruiser as Vulture ran into the teen with feet outstretched, he latched his talons into the teen's flesh as he carried him high into the air.

Spider-Man let out a hoss as Vulture's grip tightened on him. The teen raised his hands and shot globs of webbing into the man's eyes, "Gah!" Vulture exclaimed as he tried to pull the webbing out of his eyes, throwing the young hero into a wall of a building.

"Hey, it's better that I shoot white stuff from my wrists than you dropping white stuff." he called out. The teen's Spider Sense rang in the back of his head just before Sandman hit the teen into the building with a mace for a hand.

The office workers of the floor where startled to say the least.

The people scattered towards the exit as Sandman and Kraven entered the building, "You know I'd stay away from him Kraven, I don't think that you would want sand in that outfit of yours." the young hero joked as the hunter pounced.

The teen ducked as the swords slashed, Sandman came up from behind Kraven with a large hammer for a fist and swung it. Spider-Man flipped backwards as the hammer crashed into the ground. Spider-Man leapt over the man's head and rammed his heels into his head, making him stumble as he tried to grow his face back.

Jason rolled in front of Kraven and swung his fist in a uppercut but the Hunter rolled back and threw his swords at the teen. Spider-Man cartwheeled out of the way, one of the blades just cutting his thigh. "Seriously aren't you scared of accidentally cutting yourself with those! I would be."

Kraven pulled out a handful of throwing stars, "The best hunters show no fear." he said as he threw the small projectiles at the hero. The teen sidestepped and ducked under the sharp stars as they flew over his head.

"Hey! Watch it!" Sandman yelled as he got hit with the stars.

Spider-Man used this opportunity to shoot webs at a desk and swung it into the body of Marko, making his head and arms all into a pile of sand, "Does that even hurt? I'm just asking because I'm trying really hard to-"

The teen stopped when he heard let out what resembled a roar and locked the teen in a grab. "Hey I offered hugs earlier, too late now." the teen said as kneeled and leapt into the air, ramming Kraven's back into the ceiling.

The teen landed back to the ground and jumped back to a window which they both flew through. The teen attached webs to the wall and swung his back into the building, making Kraven let go only to be caught by Vulture.

The teen pulled back on the webs and shot further up the side of the building, "This is bad, too many people around. I gotta, GAHHH!" Spider-Man yelled out as electricity went through his body, making him fall back towards the ground.

He hit the concrete with a thud before slowly getting up, "You know this is so not fair. I'm going up against six of you guys. This is not fair at all." the teen yelled out as Rhino charged at the teen and ramming him through the wall of the building.

The teen let out grunts of pain as he hit wall after wall. He went through the building and back into the streets towards another big building.

With the next wall coming up, Spider-Man gripped the brute's horn and pulled himself around into his back. "Yeeehaaa! It's like a riding a moose lion!" the teen yelled as he made a web across the man's face and pulled it to the side.

"Hey! I can't see! Let me go! Let me go!" Rhino yelled as harried to grab the teen after stopping. The teen leapt off the large man and attached webs to the back of his legs.

"Timber!" he yelled out as he pulled back on the lines, making Rhino fall to the floor with a 'oomph'. Spider-Man leapt into the air and crashed his feet into Rhino's head as he started to raise it. "Come on horn head! That all ya got?" the teen taunted as he swung on a web around the corner of a building.

Rhino's a living wrecking ball. I gotta take him down first. Jason thought as he swung through the city streets, Rhino right on his heels. The teen landed on a lamp post and sprung off, attaching a webline to the lamp and swung towards the Rhino, kicking him in the exposed face.

Rhino swung his fist overhead and knocked the teen into the pavement before jabbing his horn forward, grazing the teen's left ribs. "DEAAHHHHH!" the teen yelled in pain.

Rhino smiled as he stood over the teen, "I'm gonna enjoy squishing you." the man said as he raised his foot above Spider-Man's head.

The teen looked around for some way out, "Hey Rhino, did you hear that?" the teen asked, making the man pause. Spider-Man used this time to shoot a webline to a mailbox and pull it in and swinging it into the man's face, "Mail call!" the teen shouted as Rhino stumbled back.

The teen sprung to his feet and leapt towards Rhino's face, hitting him with both his heels, making the man fall back into the concrete. Spider-Man acted fast, spraying his limbs with webbing so that he couldn't get back up. "Yeah I don't think you can break through steel without momentum. Stick around." the teen said as he examined his wound.

He had a gash going horizontally under his armpit that barely made it to the red on his costume. He was bleeding but it was mostly cosmetic damage, "That is gonna hurt tomorrow." the teen muttered as people started running past him.

The rest of the Sinister Six came from around the building that he led Rhino from, the teen sprayed a web to the side of the building and swung into the air, "I guess you guys should call yourselves the Foolish Five now huh?" the teen asked.

Vulture flew towards the teen as he swung through the air, Spider-Man fired a webline to the wall of the building, swung around the side of it and to the side of a radio antenna tower. Here I am making stupid jokes when I'm getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter. I need a plan. Take them out one by one. the teen thought as Vulture flew around the tower, shooting his feathers at Spider-Man.

The teen leapt from support beam to support beam, using the metal as cover from the razor sharp projectiles. That is if I don't get made into a mincemeat first. he thought as he leapt back from a support and attached two webs on the legs of the tower and shot himself towards the old man.

The teen threw a fist out as he flew towards him, sending Vulture through the air, "Aw what's wrong? Did I scramble your egghead?" the teen asked as he shot a webline to the tower and swung around it.

The teen's Spider Sense flared, he did a full spit in midair, dogging the blast of lightning. "Dude! That was a low move!" he yelled out to Electro as he landed on a chimney. "I mean I don't pull down your pants with my webbing do I?" the teen asked.

"Will you just shut the hell up!" Electro yelled at the teen as he sent a lighting bolt to the young hero. Spider-Man leapt back as the chimney was destroyed, attaching a webline to some of the debris and throwing it at the tattooed villain.

Electro was sent across the street, nearly hitting the side of a building as Doc Ock climbed the side of the one that Spider-Man was on with Kraven holding onto one of his arms. The Hunter drew his collapsible bow while he drew a arrow and pulled back on the string.

The Hunter shot arrow after arrow at the costumed hero, the teen cartwheeled, jumped, and sidestepped out of the way of the deadly objects. Electro flew past Kraven, "Back off wild man he's mine!" he yelled.

"Electro don't get too emotional, he's just getting under your nerves!" Doc Ock chased as the green and yellow suited man shot blasts to the young hero.

Spider-Man shot a web to the tower and pulled back on it, shooting himself towards the top, "Oh Ock, you and I both know that sparky is a very emotional little boy. And he needs our unconditional love." he teased as he grabbed one of the feathers that Vulture flung at him.

I really hope this works. he thought as he reached the top of the antenna, his feet planted on the side of the highest point. He attached a web to the very top and hid the metal behind his back as Electro flew up beside the tower, "At least I'm smart enough not to stand on metal when there's a lighting bolt coming at you!" he yelled as he collected energy in his hands and shot it at the young hero.

Otto's eyes widened under his goggles, "Electro you idiot don't! He's-"

Spider-Man threw the metal feather with the webline on the end towards the bolt before leaping off the tower.

The electricity traveled to the tower, down the side of it, and into the ground conductor hidden underground. Otto had only noticed it a moment too late, Spider-Man made a makeshift lightning rod.

The teen made a net of webbing to catch the man as he fell to the rooftop.

Jason fired a webline to the side of the building and swinging down above the streets. "Down to the Fumbling Four now!" the teen taunted as he landed on a car roof. Ok, maybe I can do this. Jason thought to himself before the car flipped over and sent the roof crashing into the side of the building, "I hate positive thinking."

Spider-Man pushed the car off him, his left knee was exposed with a scrape on it now. He crashed into a hardware store, and the shoppers where more than surprised to see him, "Uhhh...'Sup." he greeted to the shoppers, waving his hand to greet them.

The teen stood just as his Spider Sense rang in the back of his head. He turned to be hit in the heat with a big bat, sending him into shelves. The teen looked up to see Sandman turn one hand into a mallet and the other into a mace.

"Ok don't get me wrong, it's cool you can do that and all, but come on, be more original." he said as he jumped above Sandman, dogging the mace and sending a glob of webbing into the man's eyes.

He landed behind the man and swiped his leg through Marko's, making his lower body give out and give the teen a chance to jab him in the left of his face then fallowed by a strong right hook.

The teen didn't expect a fist to erupt from Sandman's chest and sent him crashing through store shelves. "Ok, I only have myself to blame for that one." he muttered to himself before a child's scream made him spring up.

He looked to see a mother shielding her child as one of the large display of radios came crashing down towards them.

The teen acted quickly, making a net of webbing to hold the boxes of radios in place as he ran forward and scooped up the mother and child and carried them out of the way as the shelves that the webbing connected to collapsed. "Well they say that no news is good news. But that is a little much." the teen said as he put the mother and child down.

He was promptly smacked on the side of his head and through the glass window at the front of the door. "Of course." The teen muttered as a pile of sand firmed in front of him. Wait, he's completely made of sand, I can't get a solid hit on him if he can just faze it through him.

The young hero looked around and found what he was looking for, a fire hydrant. Time to make Sandman into Muckman. the teen thought as he jumped back ontop of the hydrant, "Wow Marko, even with a power up you still hit like a girl. I'm impressed." the teen mocked as Sandman got his mace ready.

The man extended his arm and brought it down ontop of the teen as he jumped, smashing the hydrant's lid. The man's hand was doused with water, when he drew it back he tried to reform it, "What the-why can't I change back!?" he asked as he tried harder.

"Easy, your entire body is made of sand. Not skin, skin just lets water run off it, but sand absorbs it. Like mud." the teen explained as he grabbed the sides of they hydrant, using his super strength to bend Oran's spray the high pressured water onto Marko, sending him back against the wall if the building.

The man spat out water as his skin started to harden and turn muddy. He started to shrink more and more until it looked like his legs disappeared into the ground. Spider-Man closed the cap of the fire hydrant and sprayed the remains of Sandman with webbing, just to be safe.

His Spider Sense just barely warned him when Otto rammed his metal tentacle into the teen's face and knocking him back into the road. "I have lost my patience with you arachnid!" the ex-scientist said angrily as he slammed the hero into the ground repeatedly.

Octavius used to of his arms to grasp the teen's arms before pulling him in close. "Originally we where going to take turns doing things to you before you die. But now I think I'll be a little shellfish." Otto said menacingly as he withdrew the tentacle hold Spider-Man's face, taking his right lens along with it.

"Selfish? That's a understatement." the teen sAid as he angled his wrists, firing globs of webbing into Doc Ock's goggles, making him drop the teen and knock him away into a car with another metal arm.

Kraven ran up towards the teen with knives drawn, "Again with the sharp things. What is it with you?" the teen asked as he blocked Kraven's wrist whiles his fist hit the side of the hunter's face. Kraven slashed his other blade towards the young hero's throat.

He ducked his head back as he threw his leg out into the man's gut. Spider-Man vulted backwards over the wrecked car and shot weblines at Kraven's chest and pulled him forward, slamming the hunter's head to the hood of the car, dazing him.

The teen put the palms of his hands ins the car and swung his legs between them into his chest, spending him crashing into Doc Ock. "What out for pointy things Doc!" the teen warned as his Spider Sense rang.

The teen turned in time to avoid being scooped up by Vulture again. He quickly turned on his heel and turned to see Vulture start to fly back up. The teen fired webbing at him and was carried off the ground as towards the tops of the buildings.

Spider-Man climbed the web as fast as he could, catching up to the old man. Ok maybe it's time we stopped this little ride. the teen thought as fired a webline to the side of a building and attached it to the one he held on to.

He repeated this a action a number of times, wens hitting windows, awnings, rooftops, anything that was attached to the ground. As Ahask tried to turn, he found that he couldn't, "W-What is this!?" he demanded as he felt himself being pulled back down towards the ground.

He turned his head as Spider-Man's Fost connected to the side of it as he passed the teen. Vulture hanged unconscious in the middle of a giant web supported between two buildings.

Jason fell through a hole in the webbing before shooting a strand to one of the buildings and am swinging back down towards Kraven and Doc Ock. "Make that Dumb Duo now. Man your members are dropping like flies aren't they?" the teen asked.

Kraven threw a one of his throwing stars at the teen's web. Spider-Man dropped down to the street and rolled, delivering a uppercut to Kraven. He flew through the air to be caught by Otto who thew him back at the wall crawler. Kraven gripped his blades tightly and slashed them downward at the teen.

The young hero dropped onto his back and kicked Kraven in the chest, knocking him into a lamppost, denting the metal before he was stuck to the metal with webbing and wrapped up in the sticky substance.

"And then there was one. And that one was...crap I got nothing. Is there even another word for one?" the teen asked as he leapt towards Doc Ock.

The ex-scientist sent his tentacles after the teen, Spider-Man kicked two of them away but was knocked back with the other two. Otto walked over on two of his arms as the teen crashed into the ground and slammed his metal extremities into the teen's gut, making him let out yelps of pain.

The man raised both his upper arms, giving the teen enough time to roll out of the way as the metal smashed into the concrete. Spider-Man shot two weblines at the legs supporting Otto, pulling them out from under him and making him fall to the ground hard.

The teen flipped into the air and smiled his feet into the man's chest, he was swiped away by a metal arm a moment later, "Nnnngghhh, oh I get it the Stupid Solo act. That's what I can call you!" the teen said in realization. Spider-Man rolled out of the way as the arms and down once more.

He acted quickly and stuck the arms to the ground. The teen charged forward, "You stupid, simpleminded, arrogant, poor excuse of a arachnid!" Otto yelled as he swiped and launched his arms at the teen.

Spider-Man ducked under a metal arm and ran straight towards the other arm, he flipped forward and put his hands on the metal arm, flung himself forward and drew his fist back. "You are just too nice Otto." he hit the side of his face, "You get a little party together for me." another hit to the man's face, "But I gotta say. Sinister Six is just too bland." he said as he drew his fist back and knocked the man square in his face, cracking his goggles.

Otto was sent back crashing into a newspaper dispenser, his head slouched with a groan coming from him, showing that he lost consciousness as a paper with a picture of Spider-Man fell out of the broken glass and covered his face.

Spider-Man let out a sigh of relief, "And with that, I call it a day...that is until i collect all them." he said with a groan as he went to get all the members of the group.

…

Chief Lin Bei-Fong pulled up on the side of the road in Four Corners Square, the radio was going mad with reports of the massive battle that took place half a hour ago. And the people where in a general state of panic when the first officers had gotten on scene.

Lin walked towards a pair of officers as they set up roadblock signs, "Where's the reporting officer?" she asked the two in a stern tone.

They pointed to the base of the clock tower where a cluster of officers where looking up. Lin let out something that resembled what sounded like a growl as she approached the men and women, "I swear to the ghost of Ozai that you all better be working or I'll personally-" she started as she approached the group of men.

She stopped when they saw what they where all staring at.

On the side of the clock tower was a large web holding not one, but six of the Vault's most wanted from the prison escape months ago. Doc Ock in the center with all his arms pointing out in four directions.

"We're trying to think of a way to get them down ma'm." one of them explained.

Lin sqinted, she saw something else up on the tower, a red and black speck in the top of the building.

Jason let out a sigh, And there goes that extra web fluid that was supposed to be or emergencies. the teen thought as he clicked another cylinder into place. He looked down to the streets below and saw that the police and surrounding crowd was admiring his handiwork.

He leapt off the building and nose dived towards the streets below, shooting a webline to the wall of the tower and swung above the policemen's heads, "Take 'me somewhere without group therapy!" he yelled as he swung past.

That made the crowd of people surrounding the entire scene seem to explode in cheers. People clapped their hands together, shouted words of encouragement at the teen as he swung through the air.

A good deal of police officers joined in as well, "SPIDER-MAN! SPIDER-MAN! SPIDER-MAN! SPIDER-MAN!" the people below yelled as Jason let go of his webline and fired another building.

Jason smiled under his mask, Well...this is something I could very much get used to. the teen thought as he swung away from the scene.

…

Chapal was glad that Jason called in sick today, he didn't want him interrupting his own experiment. Yesterday he injected the cellular regrowth formula into mouse with a missing tail. Chapal hesitantly stood outside his closed office, he put the small mammal in a glass pen on his desk so he could see the results as soon as he could.

But he feared the worst. What if the formula only worked on bacterial cells? Or perhaps the tail deforms and splits off into two? He could't cut one off if it did it would just grow back.

Chapal took a deep breath as he reached for the door handle and turned it. "Time to make history." he muttered as he pushed the door opened and slowly walked towards his desk.

He looked into the glass case.

The mouse's tail had grown back in full, and was scampering around the glass case happily.

Chapal let out a laugh, "It...it works!" he yelled in complete happiness. As Chapal celebrated, the mouse looked at the man through the glass.

Mr he scientist didn't notice the fangs grown in place of the mouse's flat teeth.

…

Jason had small scratches on his face and body, the deep gash he had on his side was healing already. The teen was increasingly grateful for the healing factor that came with his powers, at this rate his scratches would be healed up in time for his birthday tomorrow.

It was pretty dark when he made his way to Akiko's house, "She is going to kill me. I am sure of it." the teen muttered as he walked along the sidewalk of Akiko's house. He walked up to the door and knocked, waiting to be either embraced by his girlfriend, or to be sucker punched by her.

The door opened, Jason barely had enough time to react before he was nearly tackled down by a red and black streak.

Akiko squeezed the young hero as hard as she could, accidentally squeezing over the cut on his ribs. "Aki...your starting to hurt me. Very badly!" he said in a higher pitch than normal.

The girl pulled away and looked at the teen's scratched up and smiling face.

"You took on...six...SIX!" she said shaking him slightly for emphasis.

Jason couldn't help but laugh at her reaction, "So does this mean you'll stop worrying about me?" the teen asked as the two embraced each other once more.

Akiko let out a short chuckle, "I'll think about it. Now come on inside. I ordered some takeout, I got some to spare." she said in almost a demand as she pulled the teen in by his arm.

The two ate and talked of what occurred during the day. Jason admitted to giving Whitney a call as he made his way here to make sure that she was alright. She merely bragged that she had the story of a lifetime about the fight.

"Everyone is talking about it. I heard about it on the radio earlier and it says it was broadcasting all over the city." Akiko said while she ate her noodles with her legs tucked in on her bed. She wore a black tank top and stripped PJ bottoms with pink rabbit slippers.

Jason let out a snort at the pink footwear but didn't say anything since she kicked him for that last time. "Well you should have been there afterwords. People where clapping, chanting Spidy's name...it was..." he struggled to find the right word.

"Gratifying?" Akiko supplied.

The teen nodded with a smirk, "Since when are you a dictionary?" he asked. Akiko stuck her tongue out in response and when back to eating, "But...I get this feeling like something's different now." the teen said as he laid down at the foot of the bed.

Akiko looked down at the tired teen, he looked like he was about ready to fall asleep right where he is. The girl took a breath, "Hey...do you...want to stay here tonight?" she asked, her cheeks blustering red.

Jason let out a yawn, "Your couch sounds so good right now, I may just sleep in my clothes." the teen muttered as he ran a hand over his face.

Akiko tossed the noodle box in a small bin by her desk set near the window, her cheeks still red, "I meant...in here with me." she said, making the teen sit up fast enough to nearly give himself whiplash.

The teen's face went redder than Akiko's hair, "I-I-I-I-I-I-" he couldn't form words.

The girl leaned over and put a finger up to his lips. "Just...sleep. Nothing else." she explained further, her cheeks burning. She had to hold back a snicker at the look Jason got on his face afterwords.

"Well...are you sure? I can still crash on the couch." he offered.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Jason. We trust each other. We love each other, sleeping in a bed is what people who love each other do. I thought I helped you with the whole social concepts thing." she teased, making the teen smile.

"Ok. But I only have my suit on under this. And I don't have underwear on under it." he admitted.

"EW! Why?" she asked.

The teen shrugged, "It chafes. And I don't want people seeing me picking my costume out my butt when I'm swinging through the air." he explained, making Akio look at him with a blank expression. "Hey if you had to wear a set of tights all day you'd want it to be comfortable too right?" he asked.

"For one I wouldn't wear tights. I'd wear normal-ish clothes with a mask covering my eyes." Akiko stated.

"And you'd keep those super clothes of yours where on your person? At all times?" he asked, making the girl shrug. "I've thought a lot about it Aki. Tights are not a choice, they come with the job." he said.

The girl rolled her eyes as she kicked her slippers off, "Just get in tight man." she said as she moved to the edge after throwing the covers down. Jason took off his gloves, shoes, and upper costume, "Ouch." Akiko muttered at the sight of Rhino's parting gift.

"Yeah. It feels much better than it looks though." he said as he moved over to the other edge of the bed and got under the covers.

The girl reached over to the lamp on her desk, the only source of light present in the room at that point. "So...goodnight." safe said.

Jason swallowed, "Yeah. Goodnight."

…

The two tried to sleep in silence after Akiko shut the lights off, but the feeling of another presence in the bed was throwing them off. Jason didn't move at all for fear of crossing some line that Akiko had put up without her own knowing.

She felt almost the same, though it was because she didn't want Jason to feel even more uncomfortable.

Sleep was calling Jason but he couldn't answer it, he was exhausted from his fight today. And he would no doubt be sore tomorrow, and he had to make it look good for school and his family tomorrow on his birthday of all days.

"Hey...you still awake?" Akiko asked through the darkness.

Jason felt himself stiffen, "Yeah...I am." he said with a small gulp. The two turned over and faced each other, the sides of both their faces almost buried in the pillow.

Akiko's hair feel over her eyes, the rest sprawled over the sheets, unleashed from their confident from the hair band, "Your ok...with this?" she questioned softly.

The teen nodded slowly, "Yeah...are you?" he questioned back.

"Yeah." she answered.

The two laid in silence, trying not to stare into each other's eyes, "Would you...be ok...if we where closer?" Jason asked nervously, thankful the darkness covered the blush forming on his cheeks.

He couldn't see Akiko's as well, "I think...I would." she said as she slowly moved to the center of the bed. "You?"

The teen gulped before speaking, "Maybe...maybe I would." he said before moving his body closer to hers. "We should get comfortable?" Jason guessed, not knowing how this exactly worked.

Akiko swallowed, "Yea. We should." she said, adjusting her body so that Jason's chest acted like a pillow.

The young hero felt himself smile with a new burst of confidence, wrapping a arm around the girl's waist, he laid his head back onto the bed. Akiko moved her left leg so that it was over his, using the teen like one big pillow really.

Jason closed his eyes as Akiko's warmth covered him, not enough to make him uncomfortable, but just enough to invite sleep in.

The two teens slept with small smiles.

…

Jason walked through the halls of his school with his arm around Aki's waist, he had to wake up early to swing by home and get some new clothes, he joined Akiko back at home as she begun to wake up.

To say the girl was dumbstruck when she found the teen making breakfast for her would be a understatement.

"You seriously make the best eggs I've had. I want you to cook more." Akiko said as they continued on their way towards the outside tables for free period.

"For every meal?" the teen questioned as they passed a group of students.

"Did you hear? Spidy took on six supervillans! My himself!" one of them said, making the couple slow down.

"I saw him when he was fighting Rhino, the guy got shanked and still kept fighting! Talk about badass."

Jason couldn't help but let his pride swell up at that, he was a badass now. That's something to be celebrated.

Akiko pulled the teen along while the group of students went into heater detail of what transpired. "Don't let that go to your head. Hubris is kinda a bitch." Akiko warned.

Jason rolled his eyes, "Just wait, everyone will start hating Spidy next week when things go back to normal." he said in a positive tone, making the girl lightly elbow him.

The two opened the door to the small courtyard, virtually empty save for a few others with a free period. "Real lively today isn't it?" Akiko asked as the two walked towards a lunch table on the gravel.

"Yep. I think we tripled membership." he added as they both sat down, sitting close to each other as they did. Akiko laid her head on the teen's shoulder with a sigh of content. "I love you." the teen said as he wrapped a arm around her shoulder.

Akiko pecked the teen's cheek, "I love you too. Happy birthday Tiger." she whispered into the teen's ear.

Jason raised a eye, "Tiger?" he questioned.

Akiko smiled, "Well you said you wanted a new nickname. Why? Don't like it?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Jason cupped the girl's cheek, "No. I love it." he said before capturing her lips in his.

'Jason O-rou, could you please report to the principal's office? Jason O-rou to the principle's office.' the loudspeaker buzzed out.

Akiko laughed as Jason's head went to his hands. The girl patted his shoulder, "Go. I'll be waiting for you to get back." she said with a supportive smile.

Jason nodded as he made his way back into the building and made a b-line for the principle's office. Please don't let Ms. Dan-ji tear me a new one for being late.

Jason walked towards the office and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He entered the room to see Ms. Dan-ji sitting behind her desk with a stern look behind her glasses. "Jason, please, sit." she said, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk.

Jason gulped before sitting down, "Don't worry Jason, I just have a few questions I want to ask you. That's all." the woman said as Jason sat in the chair, trying to put the teen at ease. "Now a few of the students where in Four Corners Square yesterday when that...affair took place. I heard that you where there as well." she said.

I was there, but not as Jason O-rou. So who would say that? Probably Xang since I write his stories for the Marvel. the teen guessed, "Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I got out of there before things got too hairy though." Jason answered.

Dan-ji nodded, "I can imagine. Must have been hard seeing all those dangerous men in the same place all at once." she commented.

You got no idea lady. Jason thought to himself, "It was scary, I won't lie." the teen admitted.

Ms. Dan-ji smiled, "So do they know your Spider-Man?"

Jason could swear his heart stopped beating, "W-What? Me? Spider-Man?" he asked hysterically, panic clearly present in his voice.

"Damnit Dan-ji I told you to be discreet."

Jason looked around for the source of the voice, "W-Whose there!? Well actually am I the only one who heard that?" the teen asked, realizing that if he misheard he didn't want to look psyco.

"Calm down hotshot." the voice said again, this time coming from directly in front of him between him and the principle's desk.

Slowly, something, someone, fizzled like mirage in front of the teen.

The man was dark skinned with no hair on his head, save for the goatee that surrounded his mouth. His right eye was covered by a eyepatch, his attire was comprised a blue jumpsuit with a white star in the center chest with lines that went around his shoulder and to points that pointed down his elbows.

He wore fingerless gloves and had straps that strapped onto his waist and hips that held something on the side of his thigh.

"My name is Nick Fury, director of S.H.E.I.L.D. And we have a lot to talk about." he said to the teen who was trying his hardest not to let his jaw drop from the presence of the man.

S.H.E.I.L.D. stood for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. It was set up by the Order of The White Louts after the hundred year war. As a safeguard against any nation that had the possibility of becoming a rouge state like the Fire Nation once had.

Jason gulped. "Ok. I'm game."

AN: Yep. I brought S.H.E. into this big mess of mine. And let the record show that originally I wanted to have the ORIGINAL Nick Fury, not the one based on Pulp Fiction star Samuel L. Jackson.

S.H.E.I.L.D is...well like I wrote above, it is essentially the White Louts of Avatar. Marvel wouldn't be Marvel without it.

And yes I based the final scene off of Ultimate Spider-Man, I liked that because it showed that Spider-Man is connected to the entire Marvel Universe. No matter how big or small.

Now I'm positive that most if not all of you have heard of the Time Skip.

I will try to cover the time between seasons. There is a lot of Spider-Man lore that I can use, who knows, maybe I'll do my own little Goblin Nation at one point.

So this may have been a rash decision I like it.

As for the Sinister Six. I took a little inspiration from ye old texts of Spider-Man. Though he originally took on the six one at a time, henceforth they all battled the wall crawler at once.

And I've been having trouble uploading stories of late so bare with me for any misspellings. I've run this whole Fanfiction thing from my phone since I've joined and it's only recently been acting up. So theres no Italics or Bolding an I not gonna lie. Its rreally starting to get on my nerves.

So I hope you liked what I added and I also hope to see some reviews.

Until later guys.

:)


	26. Chapter 26

Birthday

Jason was in shock. No, shock didn't cut it, in all honesty he felt like he was in a dream. Here in front of him was Nick Fury, of S.H.E.I.L.D. and that wasn't something that happened everyday. And what made it worse was the fact that he knew he was Spider-Man. In short, I am completely and utterly screwed. the teen thought as he answered Fury's question of how he received his powers.

"So just so I'm clear, your saying you got your powers from a inter dimensional being with someone with powers just like yours?" the man asked from his seat directly across from Jason.

The teen gulped, "Um...yeah that about covers it. Oh yeah, and I saw her again a few weeks back and gave me this big ominous threat about something that all Spider-Men have to face." the teen added.

The director let that information sink in. "Ok."

Jason cocked his head to the side, "Ok? That's it you believe me? Because I'll be honest I didn't even believe it." the teen admitted as principle Dan-ji handed him a yellow folder. "Umm...can I ask how long you've guys have known about me?" he asked, trying not to overstep his boundaries.

The one eyed man thought for a moment, "At a guess? About four months, around the time Octavius came into play." he answered as he added something to the folder.

Jason raised a eye, "Wait, then why are you guys just now talking to me about this?" the teen asked. If he found out a supervillain's identity he would confront his alter ego the first chance he got.

Fury finished writing and set the folder down in his lap, "Yesterday, six of your enemies teamed up to try and take you down. Six people, each of them with fair threat levels to S.H.E.L.D. teamed up. To kill a teenager no less. That gets my interest." he answered.

Ok yeah, that does make sense. Jason thought as Nick continued, "Now like I said, all alone, they're all below the the requirements to be considered a worldly threat. But together? That is why I'm even in this city right now." the man explained as he grasped the folder.

"So imagine my surprise when I found out a teenager of all things took them down." the man said as he eyed the teen. The kid looked like he could barely lift his own bag, let alone a full grown man.

The teen scratched the back of his head, "Well I'm actually seventeen today. But I can get your point." the teen said understandingly.

Fury grasped the folder he had in his lap, "Age doesn't really matter, look at what Avatar Aang did at twelve years old. But let me make this clear." he said as he leaned forward to the teen, "Right now, I don't know if your a threat or not. But if I find out that you are a threat to United Republic, there will be consequences."

Jason looked at the man unbelievingly, "What? You said it yourself, I took down the Sinister Six. I've helped people, you guys don't have any right to-"

"It's not that we hate you kid. But we can't trust you. Yet. Just like you can't trust us." Fury explained, he raised the yellow folder, "This has everything we have on you as Spider-Man. By now I could have turned it into the police and see you arrested." he said, making Jason's blood run cold.

"But I haven't because some of our people think you could be a great help to us. And that's reason enough to at least give you a chance." he explained, making the teen let out a sigh of relief, Thank god. the young hero thought to himself.

"So basically don't turn evil. Got it." the teen surmised.

Fury nodded, "Glad we have a understanding." he said as the teen sat up and went towards the door.

Jason stopped as he grasped the knob, "What exactly was the point of all this? I'm just...why?" the teen asked.

The director looked up at the teen with his one eye, "Because. I want you to know that I have my eye on you." he said seriously.

The teen nodded, "Ok. I'm gonna go before I make some stupid joke that may offend you." the teen said before exiting the office.

Dan-ji looked over to Nick Fury, "I'll be honest sir, that went much better than I expected."

The man nodded, "I actually thought so too...but talking to him, he talked to me like a adult. Not like a teenager...get a psyco file on him ASAP. I wanna know if there's a chance of the kid snapping." Fury said as he reached down to his belt and pressing his cloaking device.

…

Jason looked down at his notes as class seemed to drag on, Five minutes ago I was talking to a director of a government organization and now I'm taking notes for my science class. Weird day. And that speaks to me. Jason thought as he wrote down what was on the board.

He felt someone kick him slightly, he looked over to Akiko looking intently up at the board, tapping her pen into her notebook. Jason glanced down at the writing, 'How was the office?' it asked.

Jason scribbled his response on the paper, 'Talk about it later. After school.' he wrote before tapping her shoe with his. "Mr. O-rou." the teen's head snapped up to the teacher's unamused face, "Care to answer the question? What part of the brain is responsible for balance?" he asked.

Jason didn't hesitate, "The cerebellum, it's located at the back of the brain and is located under the occipital lobe which controls interpretation of sight." the teen recited.

The teacher nodded with a satisfied look, "Very good. Glad to see that someone is paying attention, just leave the love notes for after class." he said as he turned to the board.

The class let out chuckles ad snickers as Akiko's and Jason's faces flushed.

Kill me now. The two teens thought at the same time.

…

"YOU MET-" Akiko nearly shouted before Jason covered her mouth and shushed her. He was smart enough to know that talking about this right out of school was a bad idea. But he probably should have waited until they where behind closed doors to talk about this. The girl pulled his hand away from her mouth, "Sorry, but seriously?! Nick Fury!?" she asked with a excited look.

Jason smiled as they went back to walking down the street, "Yea I know right? He just...fizzled right in front of me." he said, attempting to find the right word to describe what he saw earlier.

"Fizzled?" the girl asked.

He nodded, "One minute it's thin air, next, guy just standing there talking to me." he explained.

"Wait, why did he come see you in the first place?" she asked.

Jason looked down to the lines on the sidewalk, "There's...a small chance...that S.H.E.I.L.D. may think I'm a threat." he explained, making Akiko stop in her tracks.

"That is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!" the girl exclaimed, clearly angered that people didn't see her boyfriend for what he was, a hero.

The teen shrugged as they continued on their way, "It's understandable. And what's worse is that they have a file on me, they know everything about me." he said. Akiko stiffened, the teen noticed and reached out to her hand and held it, "Don't worry, once we trust one another he'll get rid of it. But he'll also turn it in if I turn bad." he explained.

Akiko let out a sigh of relief, they had nothing to worry about. "Hey, let's go to the island. I haven't been there for a bit, and I do miss seeing the little rascals." she suggested. Hopefully there done by now. the girl thought as Jason smiled.

"Sure. But you realize that there's a chance that we may not come back alive right?" he asked sarcastically.

Akiko stepped closer to the teen, wrapping her other arm around the one holding her hand, "I know you'll protect little old me Tiger." she said teasingly with a smile.

The teen shared it, "I'm starting to really like that little nickname." he said as they moved closer together, heading in the direction of the fiery to Air Temple Island.

…

Akiko tightened her grasp on the teen as the fiery rocked from side to side, "It's ok. I got you." Jason said, amused by the girl's tight grip on his arm got stronger. "You know the odds of you actually falling into the bay are smaller than a bee right?" he asked.

The girl had been getting more comfortable on the small boat witch each journey across the bay. But it gave her a little excuse to cling to Jason, but she would never tell him that. "Yeah, yeah. I'm improving though." she defended.

The teen rolled his eyes, "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." he said as the small boat docked sat the island. Giving thanks to the fiery man, the two started on the long staircase up. "I need to talk to Tenzin about getting a fricking escalator. This is starting to get annoying." he said as the pair continued on.

Akiko sent him a questioning look, "Can't you use your Spidy powers to just get us up this quicker?" she asked, showing less irritation than the teen at the many steps.

"I tried once but the three munchkins almost caught me." he explained as they reached the end of the first step. The two took a small breather before looking at the next set of stairs, "But I'm considering it." he admitted.

The two finally reached the top steps with Akiko in front while Jason climbed up right behind her. She froze, Meelo was in the middle of the yard with a wrapped gift as he made his way towards the house. He was bustling but Jason would for sure see him when he got up. Oh man I really hope this works. the girl thought as she 'slipped' and fell back with a gasp.

Jason saw her begin to fall and moved fast, he easily caught her in his arms bridal style, "You ok?" he asked worriedly, his attention completely on her and not on Meelo with a present over his head running into the house.

Akiko smiled up at the teen, "Carry me?" she asked, sliding her arms up around his neck.

Jason couldn't help but submit to the girl's request and carried her the rest of the way towards the house. "You are so paying me back for this later." the teen said as he set her down at the front door of the house.

Akiko had to hold back a smile, "You make it sound like you don't like holding me close to you." she was with a playful pout.

Jason leaned over and pecked her cheek, "That's ludicrous. I love doing anything with you." he said truthfully as he reached for the door and opened it.

"SURPRISE!"

The teen bumped his head on the ceiling from the scare, in the room was Pema, Tenzin, and the kids all gathered in the room with a birthday banner hanging over their heads. Akiko smiled smugly as Jason's lips pulled into a great big smile.

"You guys...how...I didn't..." he couldn't find the words because he was chuckling between them as he walked towards his family.

Pema wrapped the teen up in a hug, "Akiko told us that you didn't want us to know." Tenzin explained, making the teen look over to the smiling girl.

Before he could say anything, Pema turned his head to face her stern look, "Jason O-rou I do not want to hear how you didn't want us to worry about getting anything." she started, making the teen gulp. "It's your birthday and you should enjoy it. Am I clear?" she asked.

The kids snickered from the scared look the teen had on his face, "Y-Yes ma'm." he sputtered out, making the others come back a snicker.

Pema smiled widely, "Great! Now how about we get started with cake?" she asked, making the kids and Aki cheer.

Jason noticed that Akiko was a bit over enthusiastic, "What's up with you? It's just cake." he said as they all made their way to the dinning room table. Her hands where rubbing together almost menacingly, and she had a hungry look on her face.

"It's chocolate on chocolate cake. A gift from the spirits themselves." she said with a bit of drool on her lip. The kids where in a similar state like the teenage girl.

Jason and Tenzin nervously looked at each other, "Uhhhh...have the kids ever had this much sugar before?" he asked a little nervously.

The man shook his head with a almost fearful look, "No. Never."

The two where silent as they sat down at the table with Akiko literally sharpening her fork with a knife. Chocolate is Akiko's biggest vice, and Jason knew that getting between her sweet treat is the equivalent of getting between a moose lion and its cub. It never ends well.

Pema brought in the cake on a trey, the number seventeen stuck out the top of the brown pastry with the tops on fire. All the tabs members save for Jason sang happy birthday to the young hero, making him fluster from the attention.

"Make a wish! Make a wish! Make a wish!" Meelo chanted as Jason thought of what he could wish for.

I could always use a bonus on my paycheck. he thought with a smirk. Although...there's one thing that I've wanted for a long time... the teen thought with a far off look in his eyes. When he decided he knew what he wanted, he took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

"Oooh ooh ooh! What's you wish for? Did you wish for a toy? Did you wish for a pet? (Gasp) did you wish for a puppy!?" Ikki asked as she bounced up and down in her seat.

Jason couldn't hold back his laugh, "I don't think my apartment allows pets. Sorry Ikki." he said, patting her head once she saw her disappointment. The seven all took a slice of the cake and ate their prices happily. Jason watched as Akiko greatly enjoyed her slice of cake, I'm amazed she isn't made of the stuff by now. the teen thought.

After everyone had a few more prices, Aki's number thumping all, the kids ushered the teen into the living room for his presents. Ikki had gotten him a drawn picture of their family, as poorly drawn as it was Jason truly treasured it.

Meelo gave Jason one of his old Air Nation toys, Jason smiled at the strange contraption that his cousin had given to him.

Jinora gave her cousin one of her favorite books, The Tales of Ba Sing Se. Akiko could only smile as the young hero wrapped them all up in a big hug as thanks for their presents.

Pema held her present up, "Aunt Pem you-" she shot a serious look at the teen, "-shouldn't have." he said, giving her a nervous smile as he accepted the present, making Tenzin look at him with sympathy.

He opened the wrapping to reveal a small bag with a long strap with leather padding, it was a grey colored bag with a black trim on the flap with a clip to seal it so nothing would fall out. "They call it a messenger bag. That bag of yours is so old and beat up we thought it may be time for a new one." Pema said with a smile.

Jason embraced the woman and man with a big smile, "Thanks Aunt Pem, Uncle Ten." he said thankfully. The two smiled and retuned the embrace.

…

The sky of Republic City was painted with a large array of colors with the sun setting on the horizon. "How many slices of cake did you have again?" the teen asked as they walked towards the girl's home. He carried his new bag by his waist with his presents inside the new bag.

Akiko was rubbing her stomach with a content smile, "I don't know, and I couldn't care less." she said as the two entwined their fingers.

Jason smiled as they turned a street corner, "I still can't believe that you set all that up. You didn't exactly strike me as a cunning evil mastermind, and one of the best looking evil mastermind I might add." he said, making the girl smile slyly.

"You know...we still have my gift." she said as she stepped in front of the teen and slid a hand up his chest and to the side of his neck, making the teen flush from the contact.

"Uh...what would that be?" he asked as the girl took a step closer.

Akiko opened her mouth to speak, KABOOM!

Both the teen's jumped away at the loud sound of a explosion. The two looked to the sky and saw a large column of smoke rising a few blocks away, "Of course, my special day wouldn't be complete without some amount of chaos." the teen said as he looked both ways to see people sticking their heads out their windows.

He turned to Akiko, "I know. Go. They need you." she said before he could say. He smiled and pressed his lips to hers. The teen ran around the corner they came from and went into a small crevice between buildings and changed into his suit.

This thing is actually pretty roomy. The teen thought as he put his clothes in his new bag. He put on his mask and slung it over his shoulder and leapt to the rooftop of the near building, running overtop it before leaping off the side and shouting a webline to the side of a building.

Akiko watched as Jason swung towards the smoke overhead.

The teen let go of his webline and rebound off a flagpole, "Great, just what I need when I was going to do...aw crap! Akiko never told me!" the teen said in realization as he hit his forehead with his palm.

The teen landed on the edge of a rooftop, looking across the street his lens seemed to widen at the obliterated five story building. It looks like a bomb went off in the first floor and the entire building was barely holding itself together.

"HELP! MY BABY GIRL IS STILL IN THERE!" a woman in the streets below shouted as she tried to break her tears eyed husband's grasp. Jason tossed his bag to the side of a chimney and stuck it to its side with a web before jumping off the building and swinging towards the one on fire.

Spider-Man tucked his knees to his chest as he crashed through the window without flames on the other side of them. He rolled into a standing position before getting his bearings and running through the small living room towards the doors on either side of a hall.

The teen felt his Spider Sense point to the one at the end of the hall and broke it down with a sting kick. The sounds of a infants cries made the teen turn up the crib. "Hey little lady. How about we get out of here?" he asked as he picked the small girl up in his arms and made a B-line for the way he came in, leaping out the window and into the streets.

The mother and father of the child broke through the crowd, Spider-Man happily handing them the crying infant, "Spirits bless you Spider-Man, thank you. Thank you." the mother said gratefully as she nuzzled her face into the child with her husband wiping tears out of his eyes.

Jason smiled under his mask, "No problem. Anytime." he said as the police cruisers pulled up, "Oh crap." he muttered as the police broke through the crowd.

"Anyone still inside?" one of them asked as a fire truck pulled up.

"Spidy saved the kid." one of the observers called, making the two look at the teen in costume. I'm honestly surprised I'm not getting the usual business by now. the teen thought as they calmly approached him.

"Spider-Man did you see what happened? We got a call about a explosion." one of them said. Huh?! They...they're not trying to bring me in?" the teen thought, clearly gobsmacked by the turn of events.

"Uhh...yea, that sounds about right. I heard a explosion and saved the baby. I just got here a few seconds before you guys did." he explained to the paid as they wrote down his statement on a pad of paper.

"It was those Equalist bastards!" someone from the crowd called out.

"I saw a bunch of them leave the place before it blew!" Another one added.

Spider-Man obviously put two and two together, "They set off a bomb that takes out a entire floor of the building? Just, and no offense to anyone at all, for a few benders? That's a little excessive." the teen stated.

One of the officers ran back to the car and got the radio, "What's with the call for backup? I mean we're all a little too late here." Spider-Man stated to the remaining officer.

The man scratched his forehead, easing his helmet a little in the process, "Well there's always the chance that they put more bombs in the surrounding area. So we sweep just to be safe." he explained.

"You guys need my help at all?" the teen asked, offering his help.

The man shook his head with a grateful smile, "Thanks but no thanks. Don't you have a supervillan to stop or something?" he asked as the teen shot a webline to the building where his bag was.

"Good point. Take care man." he said before pulling back and lifting himself into the air.

"Back at ya Spidy." he called up as the teen went to the rooftop.

After retrieving his bag, the teen stopped on the side of a tall building and stood, his bag hanging towards the streets. "What the hell was that about?!" he shouted in confusion.

…

Chapal walked into his lab with a great smile on his face. He was waiting until this weekend when Jason came in to show the teen his findings. He and the young man's father both started on this years ago and he wanted Jason to see it completed.

Walking over to the container with the test mouse, he smiled at the small rodent. His tail had completely grown back and actually seemed to be getting stronger. He'd have to do a more through examination later, right now he had something important to do.

The bigger the animal, the bigger the dosage of the serum must be used. And he needed to find out the right amount to use a full grown man such as himself. As the mouse watched Chapal work, it stood on its hind legs and walked, actually walked towards the case until it's face was up against the glass, staring at Chapal.

…

Jason swung around the side of a building, chasing after the feeing Equalist car. He had been after the group since the explosion. If they where making explosives to use, then he needed to work on shutting them down.

The teen swung his body to his left to avoid a bolas, "Oh come on guys, your gonna need better aim of you want to take me out!" he called down to them as he swung towards their vehicle.

Spider-Man let go of his line when he saw them throw knives this time. Thinking quickly, he attached a webline to the hood of the car and pulled back on the line, shooting himself out in front of them.

"You know, I've been thinking of what to call you guys, what's a stinger word for idiot?" he asked as he landed on the front bumper. The driver pushed down on the accelerator, making the car zoom forwards towards the bumper of a semi-truck.

The teen flipped himself with his hands onto the car's hood as the two clashed, sending sparks past Spider-Man, "Man and I thought I was a bad driver." he said as he drove his fingers into the hood and peeled the metal back, covering the engine with webbing as he pulled his hands out. "See? I am a bad driver." he stated as the car started to slow.

The teen crossed his arms smugly as the car came to a stop, the men in the car look at one another before turning their attention back to the costumed hero, "So are we just going to sit here all night or are you guys gonna talk?"

The sounds of rotors spinning brought the young hero's attention upwards where a bright light shined down onto the car. The teen had to shield his eyes from the light, the sound of ropes hitting the ground and something sliding down them.

Jason looked around to see men in suits that matched what Nick Fury wore, each of them had what looked like batons with electricity flowing throughout the cylinder. "Step off the car and put you hands in the air." one of them said.

Ahh there's the police I missed. the teen thought sarcastically.

"Stand down." a authoritative voce called out as the overhead spotlight dimmed slightly, showing Nick Fury himself with a stern look on his face. The men obeyed and moved to the sides of the car, taking the men out and snapping handcuffs on them as Fury approached him.

Jason raised his hands in defense, "Look I just wanted to know who started making bombs for the bad guys that's all. Didn't know it was a 'do not do' thing." he said in his own defense.

"Relax. So are we. We where actually working on leads when we heard you where in pursuit." he said as the light above turned off, a rectangular metal transport with high powered rotors at each end hanging above the ground, connected to the box by strong metal.

"Ok...that looks cool." the teen said in awe of the amazing looking machine. "Can I have one? Please? Web fluid is very expensive." he mockingly pleaded with the man as the troops carried the men into the transport.

Fury looked at the teen unamused, "As much as we appreciate the help. You need to back off." he stated, making Jason's eyes widen under his eyes.

"What!? So guys in my city start making bombs for God knows what and I need to sit on the sidelines?" he questioned the man unbelievingly, he wasn't one to just sit around all day while someone does something he could do easily.

Fury's eye narrowed at the teen, "This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. matter, official members only." he explained, trying to make his point clear.

The teen stared back into the man's one eye, "You honestly expect for me to just sit back while people are in danger? Sorry, you could be the fricking lord of all super heroes and I'll still say no." the teen said before shooting a webline to a nearby building and pulling back on the web, sending over the rooftop.

The director watched as the teen disappeared from his sight, "Yeah. I about figured that much." he muttered to himself as he walked towards the troop transport.

…

'So you just said no, right to his face?' Akiko asked from the other end of the phone line, impressed by her boyfriend's defiance. 'I'm sorry but did you take a knock to the noggin? That's just kicking a hornet's nest!' she exclaimed on the other end, just because it was impressive didn't mean it was smart.

Jason laid his head down on the pillow of his bed, his phone in his hands with Akiko on the other end of the line. "I know! I know...but I can't just stand by and have innocent people die." he explained, running a hand over his face.

Akiko let out a sigh from the other end of the line, 'I know...but if there's government guys already on this do you need to get involved?' she asked.

The teen smirked, "Well technically I could do the same with the police couldn't I?" he asked in a knowing tone.

'Ok good point. But it's your birthday for crying out loud. You should be taking the day off of or something, preferably with me.' she said, Jason could practically see the pout that was on her face from her tone.

Jason smiled as he sat up, "Your forgetting that this is me we're talking about. No such thing as a day off." he said, looking at his costume hanging off the end of his bed, the eyes looking back at the teen. "Sorry I didn't stick around to get your gift." he apologized to the girl as he laid back onto the sheets.

Akiko smiled on the other end, 'Yeah...sucks.' she said a little sadly over the line.

"Hey you ok? You sound like you had the happiness drained out of you." Jason asked with concern from his end.

'No no, I'm a little bummed I couldn't give you your present.' She admitted in defeat.

The teen smiled widely, "Really?"

'Really.'

"What is it?"

'It's stupid...'

"I bet it's not." Jason countered, trying to convince her to spill. "I'll swing over to your house right now to come get it." he offered, trying make it seem less silly.

'No, I'll give it to you tomorrow.' she said firmly. The girl let out a sigh of defeat, 'Now I need to get in the show before Keito uses up all the warm water. Love you, bye.' she said.

"You too. Don't do anything too drastic to the guy." he warned, getting a small chuckle from the other line before hanging up.

Jason smiled as he reached over and set the phone on his nightstand, shutting his light off as he did so. He tossed his costume under his bed and laid back into the bed and pulled his covers up over himself, deciding to try and sleep.

…

Amon looked down at the small square device, it was able to cripple a entire building, yet it was so small that he could hide it in a child's ball. His men had been working on this for moths with little success, but yesterday was their test and it worked perfectly.

The small workshop that he and the Lieutenant stood was basic and small. They would have to find some way to expand this department of their operation if they wanted to change the world, but this would do for now.

"Is everything in place for tomorrow?" the masked man asked his trusted advisor. The two walked towards the door and into their underground base.

The Lieutenant nodded, "The men are ready and the device is set. They won't know what hit them." he explained as a few men loaded supplies into a tuck as the two walked past.

"Tomorrow is a milestone in the revolution. And the entire world will learn of it." Amon said decisively.

…

Jason sat in his first period class with a bored expression, his mind was still on the events of yesterday. But surprisingly the last thing that was really on his mind was his talk with Fury yesterday, but Jason was more worried about what the Equalists could do with bombs.

My hey could attack anywhere, city hall, the Marvel, the police station, the island! I need to shut them down, screw what Nick Fury says. I'm getting involved, wether he wants my help or not. The teen thought with determination.

Beside him, Akiko slept with her head in her arms on the table. Jason knew much better than to wake her, last time he tried that she didn't speak to him for two whole days. "Damnit. Wolf bats won again." Xang muttered from behind them.

Jason turned and looked at the paper, "Let me guess, they cheated again?" he asked. Jason still hasn't been able to attend any of the other matches since the entire Vulture affair.

Xang tossed him the paper, "Look for yourself and burn it." he said in a snarky voice. Jason rolled his eyes and read through the pro-bending section of the paper before moving on to the main section.

The headline caught his eye: Former Firelord Zuko and General Iroh of the Fire Nation Royal family has come to Republic City for Fire Nation Festival today!

Ok. Yeah that's not making yourself a big target or something. The teen thought to himself as he read on, the festival was going to be going on all day. In fact, the three where all going to be at a festive event later after school.

"Son of a bitch..." the teen muttered, That was why they blew that building. It was just a test...I need to get there after school. the teen thought as he folded the paper and handed it back to Xang.

The sound of the door closing made Akiko bolt up from her desk, Jason couldn't help but snicker at the girl. As class started he flipped a note into the girl's lap under the desk.

The girl glanced over to the teen as he opened his book and started to read the pages that was written on the board. She fought the urge to stick her tongue at him as she unfolded the paper in her hands and read it.

'Just found a festival we could go to later today. I got some work to do but it's still a date.' - Jason.

Akiko smiled, she quickly wrote a small smite down and flicked it over to him. The teen looked down at the paper and read it.

'Sure thing Tiger ;)'

Jason stared at the last symbol, not sure what it meant.

…

Jason and Akiko walked hand in hand in Little Fire Nation. The section of the city was built like many of the buildings in the Fire Nation capital, earning the section of the city it's name, Little Fire Nation. And today the streets where flooded with all assortment of games, food stands, and street shows.

"So you think the baddies are gonna hit here?" she asked Jason as they passed some kids playing tag. Jason nodded, "Well it makes sense, I mean people aren't the most trusting of Firebenders still. What with making Airbenders close to extinction and all." she said.

Jason gave her hand a small squeeze, "That still doesn't give them a reason to blow the lid off of the Fire Lord's head. He is the guy who helped end the war if I remember right." the teen said as he thought back to history class.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "Look the big meeting or whatever isn't until later right? Let's relax, play a few games, have a nice time until it starts." she said as she pulled him towards one of the booths, "This isn't a date unless I have some fun after all." she added.

The teen wanted to protest but was pulled into a photo booth before he could get a word in, "Aki, I want to go on record saying that this is ridiculous." he stated.

"That's a insult to this relationship then." she said jokingly as she sat her and Jason down on the seat in the booth.

Jason rolled his eyes as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a quarter, "Fine. Only for you babe." he said in surrender.

He slid the coin into the slot, the clock started ticking, "So we sit here like morons and wait for them to take a photo?" he asked.

Akiko smiled slyly, "No, we do this." she said as she pressed her lips to his cheeks, making Jason's eyes widen as the camera flashed.

Jason turned to her smiling face and cupped her cheek, "Oh it's that's kinda camera is it?" he asked as he moved their heads closer together, the camera flashing again.

Jason captured her lips in a deep kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body closer to his. Akiko let out a small moan as Jason engulfed her lower lip in his mouth, making her lean over towards him more as the camera flashed again.

Her hands encased his neck, drawing both their heads closer to one another. His back felt his back arch backwards towards the curtain, his head brushing the cloth as Akiko's hair was the last thing that the camera caught.

The two pulled away, drawing out their contact for as long as they could, "Yeah. That kind of photo booth." she said, the smile having not left her face. The two reluctantly exited the booth and collected their photos, chuckling at the stages that it caught them in.

"There. Does that count as you having fun ye-" the two stopped at a certain booth, it was one of those throwing darts at a balloon kind of games. But what made the two stop where the prizes, well one of them.

It was a stuffed version of Spider-Man.

Jason felt his jaw smack the ground while Akiko stared at the stuffed doll, trying not to burst out in laughter. "You gonna stand there or are you gonna play kid?" the booth owner asked in a bored tone.

Jason irritably dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out ten Yuans. The man pocketed the cash and sighed, "Ok you gotta pop-" he stopped when he heard these successive 'pop's in a row. He looked to the board.

Jason had made a near perfect triangle with the darts.

"I'll just take this." Jason said as the man looked at the darts in a shock. The game was rigged, behind the wall paper was iron.

Jason and Akiko looked down at the stuffed doll, she couldn't help but laugh, "It looks like you at least. Even if you aren't that buff." she said as Jason looked over the small toy.

He shook his head as they weaved their way through the streets, "I'm more angry about the fact that someone is using my image without my consent. I mean think of how much money these guys are making!" he asked, gesturing to the toy.

The girl took the toy from his hands, "Your right. It's not fair, but is it fair to be angry that some guy is making money while your actually saving lives?" she asked with a critical look.

Jason knew that he should pick his battles, and this is one that he's gonna lose at every time. "Ok, good point." he said with a shrug.

"Right. Thanks for the stuffed you." she said with a smile.

Jason smiled, "No problem...so...any chance I'll hear that little gift of yours anytime soon that you say is stupid?" he prodded, making the girl's cheeks flush a little.

"It's still stupid..." she muttered.

"And I still want to see it." Jason said with a smile.

The girl took a breath, "Ok, fine. But after you save the day. Deal?" she asked.

Jason leaned over and pressed his lips to her cheek, "Deal. Now come on, sooner we get there, sooner I can stop this whole thing and listen to your little poem." he said, making the girl lightly hit his arm as they made their way to the stage where the guests of honor would be.

…

The former Firelord Zuko looked out of the Satomobile tithe streets of the city, "It's been a long time since I've been to the city." he said, thinking back to the last time he set foot here. The last time, Aang was on his deathbed, and Zuko didn't even leave the island at all.

General Iroh nodded sadly, "Yes. I think everyone remembers where they where that day. Me and mother where playing in the place garden if I'm right." he said, trying to think back to that day.

Zuko smiled, "Yes, picking on turtleducks if I recall." he said, making both the firebenders chuckle. One of the jokes that the family kept to themselves was when Zuko and his mother where feeding the animals and got bit by the mother for being mean to them.

Iroh's expression hardened as the car passed some Equilist propaganda posted on the side of a building, "Grandfather, I know that this is a special day, but with everything that has been happening lately..." he trailed off.

"Hey I can still hold my own in a fight Iroh. I may be old, but I still have my moves." Zuko said with a smile.

Iroh's face didn't falter, "Grandfather, you should be taking this seriously." he warned.

Zuko put a hand on his grandson's shoulder, "Iroh. I know your worried, and I know you have every right to be. But today, nothing bad will happen." he said reassuringly.

Iroh still wasn't convinced, but with the Fire Nation Royal guard his worries where lessened. "Ok, fine, I'll stop being the worrywart." he said in defeat.

…

"So how exactly are you planning to find a supposed bomb here again?" Akiko asked her boyfriend as they stood surrounded by masses of people. The stage that the Firelord and General Iroh where speaking from was a few feet away, but the place was so crowded that Jason could barely think without all the people taking over him.

"Ok so I didn't plan this through. Score one for the universe. I was planning on looking for shady people." he explained loud enough so that only she could hear him.

Akiko gave him a blank stare, "And your the guy who beat the Sinister Six. God help us all."

"That hurts." he said, putting his hands over his chest, making a wounded face.

Akiko rolled her eyes yet smiled, "So what's your plan now? Get to high ground or something?" she asked.

Before the teen could respond, he caught something out the corner of his eye. A man was standing by the stage, his foot was hitting the ground like a runner with how fast it was going. "I just found what I was looking for. Come on." he said as he grasped her hand, leading her away from the crowd and to a empty alleyway.

"Why do you always change in alleyways? Why not a phone booth or something?" Akiko asked while she watched to make sure no one would walk down while the teen was putting his cloths into his bag.

"Name one reason you would go into a alley in the middle of the day." he asked. Akiko thought for a moment before coming up with nothing. "That's what I thought, now get somewhere safe just in case this thing goes sideways." he said as he pulled his mask down just above his nose.

Akiko nodded, "Be safe. I don't want you to be a red and black speck on the road." she said before pressing her lips to his briefly.

Jason gave her a smile, "It's me remember? I'll be fine." he said reassuringly as he webbed his bag to the wall.

Akiko smiled as the teen leapt to the wall and crawled up the side of it towards the rooftops. Jason ran to the ledge and looked over the crowd to see the man from the stage walk towards another man near a open garage.

The teen leapt through the air onto a streetlamp, pouncing off it to the wall above the garage door as it closed. The teen crawled along the wall around the corner of it towards the back. "Really hope that I'm right about this. I don't want Akiko thinking I'm a idiot." the teen muttered as he crawled to the rear exit of the building.

Jason watched as two men exited the building and towards something covered by a large tarp. The men pulled the cover off to reveal two motorcycles, Oh so you guys do need to go somewhere. the teen thought.

"Come on. We gotta deliver that bomb ASAP. Royals will be here any minute now." one of them said as they got onto one of the bikes. The teen's lenses narrowed at the two as they started their bikes up and took off. The teen leapt off the wall and shot a web to the side of a building, swinging after them as they led him to their hideout.

…

The two Equalists pulled up beside a small garage, taking their helmets off before entering through the side door. Inside was a van with six other supporters readying it for its run. "Security is light, and they don't have a single roadblock up." one of them said.

"You guys made sure you weren't fallowed right?" one of them a asked.

"Of course not. Not a car in sight." the other replied as one of them went to open the garage door.

"I'm more worried about bugs if you get my drift." he said as the door opened.

Spider-Man let his feet fall from the wall and rammed them into the man's face, "Well actually I'm a arachnid. Not a insect." the teen said as the man collided with a another Equilist.

The young hero ducked as a crowbar was swung at his head, he struck back with a strike to the man's gut. "See insects have six legs and have two parts to their bodies," he started as he webbed a man to a wall. "while on the other end of the spectrum have arachnids have three parts to thee bodies and eight legs." he ended.

The teen threw his elbow back into another supporter's jaw, making him fall back down to the floor. Five more men charged forward, Spider-man leapt towards the men, shooting his fists out to two of their faces while he balanced himself on two other's heads.

He drew his knees together, knocking their heads together as he entangled the doth man with webs and pulled him into the other two as he jumped off, covering the three in webbing as he did so. "Who ever said three's a crowd?" the teen asked as he heard the truck start up and start forward towards him.

Spider reflexes kicked in and the teen found himself sticking to the ceiling as the truck passed under him. "Oh, great. That's just what I need today." the teen muttered as he dropped to the floor and swung after the van.

…

Nick Fury was getting frustrated. And that act alone is something in itself. The Equilists tat they had taken into custody the night before where claiming not to know anything at all. Wether that was the case or not was yet to be seen, but it still pissed him off to know end.

Right now he looked out to the city from the Republic City brach of S.H.E.I.L.D. the cityscape spread out below from the top floor of the skyscraper. The knock of the door made the director turn towards the wooden doors. "It's open."

In stepped a woman in a completely black skintight suit, she had red hair that was cut short enough to reach her jawline, the gauntlets on her wrists had a hourglass symbols that matched the one on her belt, "Sir we've received confirmation on the package en-route to the Fire Nation section of the city. We have units en-route but..." she trailed off.

Fury let out something that resembled a growl, "But what?"

The woman cleared out her throat, "It's O-rou sir. He's already on it apparently." she said, making the man let out a frustrated sigh.

"Damnit kid." he muttered as he walked around his desk and towards the door, "Get a security team around the Fire Lord and General now. And put all support units on standby." he ordered as he made his way towards the command center in the building.

…

Spider-Man fired a webline to a windowsill, swinging after the speeding truck before letting go and attaching two webs to the roof of the vehicle. He pulled down on both weblines and flew towards the roof of the truck, sticking his feet to it. "You guys are in a rush. Whatcha delivering?" he asked as he crawled to the side of the car and towards the trunk.

He pulled on the rear doors until they came off, showing a small square bomb, "And here I was expecting takeout." the teen muttered as one of the men tried to get out of their seat. The teen webbed the passenger in place as he clocked the driver in the side of the head, knocking him out cold.

Jason went to the bomb, as he was about to grab it, his Spider Sense went off in his head. He turned to the sound of one of the men screaming, they where heading right for the bay!

"Well it's been fun guys," he ran forward and grabbed both the men, ripping the seat out of car for the one, and tossed them out the back of the truck. "but next time, I'm driving. Even if I'm a horrible driver." the teen said as he jumped out after then and caught them with a web between streetlamps.

The teen landed on a lamppost as the truck broke through the guard rail and fell into the water.

Jason let out a sigh of relief. That could have been bad, very, very bad. the teen thought as he looked back to the men caught in the web, "All right motor heads, spill. Why try to bomb a festival?" he asked as he leapt over and crawled across the web to them.

The man in the seat grinned, "Everyone knows that the Fire Nation can't be trusted. Hell, if you looked, the only people at that festival where firebenders, I guarantee it. Same guys who roasted the Air Nation, buck of-" he stopped when the teen grabbed him by the collar.

No one talks about his girlfriend like that and gets off scot free. "I'm about two seconds away from knocking those teeth out of your skull one at a time. Tell me something that will change my mind." he threatened.

The man's face paled. "Th-They said that they had a backup plan! I swear I don't know what but they where talking about it before you showed up." he admitted, making the teen's eyes widen.

The officer he spoke to the day prior came to mind.

They always sweep twice to make sure there's no other bombs.

But what if they plant a bomb during that sweep? Jason dropped the man to the web and sprung off into the air, firing a webline to the side of a building and swinging around a street corner towards Little Fire Nation.

…

Jason wasn't slowing down, he swung over rooftops, leapt over roads, anything that could make him go faster he did. He needed to find the bomb, but where in the world cold they put it?

Spider-Man landed on a flagpole overlooking the stage where he first saw the Equilist. "Ok Spider, think! Where could you plant a big explody thing where it does the most damage?" he asked himself as he looked around frantically.

The road would be too much of a risk, always the chance that they could be late before the timer runs out on the bomb. Maybe a building? No, there's no benders who live in them too I bet, they wouldn't risk it. The teen thought to himself.

The sight of a heavily armored Satomobile pulling up by the stage caught his attention. The crowd cheered as the two Fire Nation Royals exited the car. "Ok Spider Sense, don't fail me now!" the teen pleaded as he closed his eyes.

The sounds of the crowd cheering and clapping started to damper, Jason concentrated, he hasn't tired to do this trick since Akiko went missing. Using his Spider Sense like a compass, and right now he's praying that it works.

As Firelord Zuko stepped up to the podium, Jason felt it, Spider Sense was pointing to the stage! "Duh O-rou! Move!" he commanded himself as he leapt down towards the stage.

To say everyone was surprised to see Spider-Man land on the stage would be a understatement, Iroh readied fire in his palms but stopped when his grandfather raised a hand stopping him, "So your the Spider-Man the city's been buzzing about." the man said as he looked the teen over.

"Yeah yeah we'll talk about how stupid my costume is later." he turned to the crowd, "Everyone, listen up! Equalist supporters have planted a bomb, I need you all to calmly-" people started panicking as soon as the word 'bomb' was said.

The teen couldn't help but facepalm. "Don't beat yourself up. This happens more than you think." Zuko said, trying to sympathize with the young hero. "Where's the bomb at?" he questioned.

The teen's Spider Sense was tugging directly below him, "Right here." he said as he drew a fist back and rammed it into the wooden floor, sending splinters out in all directions. Spider-Man pulled the wood apart and reached in, grasping the square bomb.

On the front of it was a clock, seconds ticking away, he had about thirty left.

Jason's mind went into overdrive, he'd usually go toss it in the river but he's not that fast roger there even with web swinging. He can't try to disarm it, he may end up blowing himself up in the first place!

Place, that word made all the pieces click together.

Fifteen.

The young hero wrapped the device in webbing, making a line go around his shoulder with the bomb testing at his waist. He shot a webline to the side of a building and pulled himself up to it's wall. Spider-Man went up the side at full speed until he reached the tiled rooftop.

Ten

He jumped as high as he could as he unslung the bomb from his shoulder.

Eight.

He broached to parts of the web with the soles of his feet and pulled back on the bomb. Tension building up in the makeshift projectile.

Five.

He let go of bomb.

Four.

The metal explosive flew high into the air.

Three.

Jason fell back down towards the rooftops.

Two.

The crowd below looked up.

One.

KABOOOOOOM!

The shock wave from the blast knocked Jason through the air off course. Instead of him heading for the rooftop like he wanted, he was now heading for one of the street vendors, "This is so gonna-"

The teen crashed into the small both with a loud 'Smack!' being heard. When he rose from the ground, after making sure nothing of his was broken, he nearly swore.

He was back at the dart booth.

"Hey whose going to pay for all this!?" the vendor demanded as Spider-Man looked at one of the small stuffed versions of him.

"I'd sell those things at a higher price. They're gonna get a lot more popular." the teen said as he jumped over the counter and back onto the streets. The teen shot a web to the side of a bluffing and swing away as the people below clapped and cheered at him. "I'm still not used to that." Jason muttered to himself as he swung away from Little Fire Nation.

…

"You are insane." Akiko stated.

The teen was happy to find Akiko laying on his couch when he got home, she had been listening to the events that transpired at the fairgrounds since she got there. Her head now laid in Jason's lap under a pillow, with his legs kicked up onto his table.

"I'm going to take that as a complement since I did in fact save the day." Jason replied with a smile.

"Still, insane."

"And still, saved the day." Jason retorted stubbornly. Akiko rolled her eyes as her hand found its way to his, enjoying the brush of his hand against hers.

"Yep. Always do." she said, giving his hand a tight squeeze. "Hey, I got your present." she said in realization as she sat up and faced him.

The two smiled, "Ok, what is it?" he asked. It'd been in the back of his mind all day but with the day's events he had almost forgotten about it. Akiko slyly smiled and grasped the hem of her shirt and slowly pulled up. Jason's face was so red he could swear that it was burning up to a crisp. "A-A-Akiko I-" she pulled her shirt to reveal-

A belt, with a number of picked and clip on points on them, "Ta da! A utility belt!" she said, smiling cheekily. Jason sat silently as Akiko held back a laugh, when Jason fell over to the floor she lost it, she clutched her gut, trying to calm herself down as her boyfriend got back up in the couch.

The teen waited until she got herself under control, "Ok. That aside, you made me a utility belt?" he asked with a small smile as she unclipped the belt and handed it to him. It was white with small pouches around it that could be used as pockets and clips that looked like they could hold his web cartages. "How?" he asked.

Akiko smiled, "Well I always hear you complaining about not having enough room for webbing so I got one of Keito's old belts and modified it a little." she explained as Jason looked over the belt.

He grinned before pulling her into a hug, "Aki, I love you. You know that?" he asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

The girl buried her head in his shoulder, "Yeah I know...I did get you good didn't I?" she asked with a confident smile. She'd been planing on how to give him her gift for a while and when she thought of the look on his face she flat out bust up in laughter.

Jason's eye twitched, "Don't go spoiling the moment babe." he said.

Akiko rolled her eyes, "I still haven't heard a 'thank you' yet." she commented.

Jason pulled away and looked at her with smirk, "Let me show you how grateful I am." he said as he leaned forward, putting his hands down on the cushion on either side of the girl and pressing his lips to her's. "Thank you," he pecked her chin, "for being utterly," another on her jaw, "fantastic." he drew his lips across her pale skin, making her shiver.

Akiko gripped his collar and pulled him close, laying a trail of butterfly kisses up to his ear, she couldn't tell if she was hearing her own heart beat or Jason's. But it was hammering loud enough for both of them to hear. She felt her back being pressed down against the seat, her fingers raked through his hair, trying to get a good grip on him.

Jason pulled away briefly, "I-Is this ok?" he asked, not sure if his action was welcomed fully. He just planned on teasing her a little but when he felt her shiver...

Akiko audibly gulped, "Y-yea. This is fine...but can we...slow down?" she asked a little shyly.

The teen nodded, "Of course...I was just-" he was cut off when his phone rang from his bedroom, making the two groan with aggravation. "testing waters. And that would be my luck catching up to me." he said as he rose from couch to get the phone.

The teen picked up the receiver, before he could speak, a familiar voice spoke, "Marvel. Now."

Fury.

Jason sneered as he put the phone down on the receiver. "Ok I am not someone's personal lap dog. I'm having a talk with Fury." he growled out.

…

Spider-Man swing on his webline towards the newspaper publisher's building, culling up the webline as he did before letting go and landing on the large neon M. "Nice landing." the teen looked down to the rooftop and saw the director himself.

Jason dropped to the rooftop in front of the man, "This is my life! I repeat, MY. LIFE. You think because your Nick Fury 'king of spies' or whatever you can just barge in whenever you want!?" he demanded, pointing at the man.

He shrugged, "Pretty much." he said with a shrug, making the teen deflate. "And I called you here because I hear you stopped two bombs from blowing Firelord Zuko to bits." he said.

Jason crossed his arms, "Oh yeah, we sat down, had some tea, and I got knocked by a shockwave the size of a building! Where were you guys?" he asked.

"On standby. I wanted to see how you handled the situation." Nick stated simply.

Jason raised a eye, "For what?" he asked. If that was a test, I don't want to see his end of the year exam. he thought to himself.

The director pulled out a familiar yellow folder, "Fir this." he took a lighter out of his pocket and clicked it, holding it up to the folder until it caught fire and dropped it. "You proved yourself today. I don't completely trust you, but you showed that you aren't a threat. For now." he stated.

Jason let out a sigh that felt like he held in since yesterday. "So why didn't you trust me? I haven't done anything bad...except webbing Tarrlock to a wall. Though he is the Kingpin. Speaking of which, why haven't you arrested him yet!" he asked.

Fury stared at the teen, "Do you have any forensic evidence? A confession? No? Then no. We can't arrest him. But we have a branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. watching him right now. He'll slip up. And we'll catch him when he does." he said assuringly.

"As to why we didn't trust you, supervillans started showing up around here soon after you came along. That can't be coincidence." he added.

Jason's mind gashed back to his fight with Scorpion during winter, Verrick. He never got around to questioning him about his involvement. Maybe I should drop by sometime and see what exactly he knows. the teen thought to himself.

"Sir. We should get going." the two looked behind Fury to see the woman from his office earlier today. Red hair lightly flowing in the breeze.

Fury nodded, "Right. See ya kid." the man said as he walked towards the roof access door. As the woman entered the building, Nick Fury looked back at the teen, "Remember, I got my eye on you kid." he warned lightly before heading inside.

As the door closed, Jason merely stood, watching the four for a moment before speaking to himself.

"I missed making out with Akiko for this?"

AN: And another one down.

Book four is upon us and it is a sad fact that this will be the last we see of avatar.

Thank god for for Fanfiction huh?

Now I know that I'm going to get at least one request for Asami becoming Iron Maiden for this chapter so let me address it now: As much as I like the idea, and I really do, I am not entirely sure I can pull it off.

Now that doesn't mean it won't happen but you all need to understand that Asami is her own character, that's like asking for me to make Korra black cat. Asami is her own character with her own strengths, weaknesses, backstory, and future for her.

And Spider-Man wasn't in anyway a inspiration for Tony to become Iron Man, so just because she was saved by Spidy doesn't make her a super hero. If that was the case there'd be a ton of heroes in this already.

So Iron Maiden may happen or it may not. I am sorry that it is not a certainty.

Now I also got a wolverine suggestion, and I agree that I love the idea of throwing Logan in the mix of all this. So I'll try to find a way to introduce mutants or something into the story.

I also want to try the FF in this but I'm drawing a blank, if anyone has some suggestions that could fit I'd love to hear them.

And keep in mind that this is a world where people can make water float so the realistic factor is lowered.

Anyway thanks for reading, I'll see you guys next time.


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